Seth's succinct narrative provides the necessary background to cut through the shallow journalism that stereotypes the North Korean state, society, and leadership as aberrant. Revealing the complex historical roots of the North Korean revolution, this history takes the story into the current geo-political fervor that characterizes Northeast Asia in the 2010s. Anyone who wants to really understand the how's and whys of North Korean state behavior in the current moment must read this account.

Michael Robinson, Indiana University Bloomington, USA

This timely book contains the most important data on North Korea since 1948 with references to previous history.

Gabriel Jonsson, Stockholm University, Sweden