The Real North Korea: Life and Politics in the Failed Stalinist Utopia
"[A] probing, clear-eyed study of the world's most irascible dictatorship. Lankov's is one of the best and most accessible recent accounts of this seemingly outlandish nation, and the book eschews North Korea's lurid stereotypes to reveal a stunted normalcy."-Publishers Weekly(Starred Review)"The Real North Koreais one of the best books about this isolated republic to appear in years. Andrei Lankov draws on three decades of experience to write a deeply informed, thoughtful, fair-minded and highly readable account of 'life and politics' in North Korea, from day one to the present. His policy recommendations for dealing with the nuclear problem, for a South Korea waiting impatiently to inherit the North, and for the eventual end of this regime as we know it, are cogent and full of something rare in discussions about this irascible country: common sense."-Bruce Cumings, Chair of the History Department at the University of Chicago, and author ofKorea's Place in the Sun: A Modern History"Lankov explains how North Korea's survival imperative combined with South Korea's success compels the regime to persist in internally rational but self-isolating behavior that only further deepens its quandary. North Korea is the Galapagos Island of nation states, and Lankov provides clear analysis of how the regime has survived despite steep odds, why the leadership cannot change, and why it must."-Scott Snyder, Senior Fellow for Korea Studies and Director of the Program on U.S.-Korea Policy, The Council on Foreign Relations"The Real North Koreapresents a detailed and careful analysis of a country that has been difficult for many to understand.  Andrei Lankov, one of the world's top North Korea scholars, provides a fascinating look at the internal dynamics and motivations that drive North Korea.  Few scholars of North Korea have the experience and insight of Andrei Lankov, and this book will be required reading for all who wish to better understand the actions of the DPRK."-Terence Roehrig, Professor in National Security Affairs and Director of the Asia-Pacific Studies Group at the U.S. Naval War College and author ofJapan, South Korea, and the U.S. Nuclear Umbrella"Lankov offers a highly readable book and a unique perspective that yields a knowledgeable, sardonic, acerbic and not entirely dispassionate view of North Korea. The author also dishes up a rare treat, mostly unfound in books of this genre: common sense and humility about the North's future, a theme from beginning to end."--National Interest"Andrei Lankov has written a wonderful introduction to North Korean history and North Korean studies inThe Real North Korea.Historians and researchers in other specialties -- particularly involving the history of the Communist world -- will find it a good introduction to the peculiarities of North Korea. Policymakers and staffers in Washington will find a sober-minded, realistic, and -- given the author's personal background as a Soviet academic -- very different take on North Korea than the standard media line. Highly recommended."--History News Network