The Real North Korea

Life and Politics in the Failed Stalinist Utopia

By: Andrei Lankov

Narrated by: Steven Roy Grimsley

Andrei Lankov has gone where few outsiders have ever been. A native of the former Soviet Union, he lived as an exchange student in North Korea in the 1980s. He has studied it for his entire career, using his fluency in Korean and personal contacts to build a rich, nuanced understanding. In The Real North Korea, Lankov substitutes cold, clear analysis for the overheated rhetoric surrounding this opaque police state. After providing an accessible history of the nation, he turns his focus to what North Korea is, what its leadership thinks, and how its people cope with living in such an oppressive and poor place. He argues that North Korea is not irrational, and nothing shows this better than its continuing survival against all odds. A living political fossil, it clings to existence in the face of limited resources and a zombie economy, manipulating great powers despite its weakness. Its leaders are not ideological zealots or madmen, but perhaps the best practitioners of Machiavellian politics that can be found in the modern world. Even though they preside over a failed state, they have successfully used diplomacy - including nuclear threats - to extract support from other nations. But while the people in charge have been ruthless and successful in holding on to power, Lankov goes on to argue that this cannot continue forever, since the old system is slowly falling apart. In the long run, with or without reform, the regime is unsustainable. Lankov contends that reforms, if attempted, will trigger a dramatic implosion of the regime. They will not prolong its existence.

Based on vast expertise, this book reveals how average North Koreans live, how their leaders rule, and how both survive.

©2013 Andrei Lankov (P)2014 Audible Inc.

Outstanding

Thoughtful analysis of the past, present, and future situation in North Korea. Best assessment I've read. Strongly recommend this for both the interested layman and the scholar.

Excellent research

Enjoyed it, very well done. A great overview of a very complex problem. Ppl must read this book

Narrator can’t pronounce Korean!

They should have gotten a narrator with some basic Korean skills. It was hugely distracting the way this guy guessed his way through and it took away from the authority of the text even though it had nothing to do with the actual text.

Complete full picture

Great book to understand what's going on with the North Korea situation and how have gotten to where it is now.
I'd recommend it to those that have none or little knowledge about North Korea but what to have a clear picture of what's going on.

Best Single Book on North Korea

What made the experience of listening to The Real North Korea the most enjoyable?

Andrei Lankov's scholarship plus his personal experience makes this book the most complete look at North Korea I've read.

What about Steven Roy Grimsley’s performance did you like?

He seemed to capture the author's personality.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes.

Great book

What did you like best about this story?

A very compelling och interesting book on North Korea. I especially like the part on North Korean History from the Soviet union who set upp the state to the fall of the soviet union and the internal collapse of the country. A non fiction page turner.

The ultimate work on North Korea

Are you curious about North Korea? Do you wonder why their leaders do what that do? Do you want the real story without the stupid, hyperbolic and flat out wrong surface level understanding you get from new papers?

This is an amazing and informative work on North Korea. The author has a mastery of the material that is possibly unchallenged by any other human being on the planet.This book is a serious academic work that examining in detail every aspect of modern North Korean thinking.

If you're eager to learn about North Korean, then this is the book for you.

Only real negative is that it could have used another editor. Sometimes it felt like certain facts were repeated a few too many times.

Interesting and intriguing

Great work and insight into the Hermit Kingdom. Presents a telling picture of DPRK; a very dark place in a modern world.

Repetitive But Good Information

An approach of appeasement to North Korea. You challenge evil and not appease it. Same idea as with Russia currently.

Great, enlightening book with a point

What did you love best about The Real North Korea?

The authors insight from within. And just now in the middle of a new nuclear crisis it is extremely relevant information.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The fact that this author who grew up in another communist country and that he has lived in North Korea himself makes this book so extremely useful.