The Reluctant Communist

My Desertion, Court-Martial, and Forty-Year Imprisonment in North Korea

By: Charles Robert Jenkins, Jim Fredrick

Narrated by: John McLain

In January of 1965, 24-year-old US Army sergeant Charles Robert Jenkins abandoned his post in South Korea, walked across the DMZ, and surrendered to communist North Korean soldiers standing sentry along the world's most heavily militarized border. He believed his action would get him back to the States and a short jail sentence.

Instead he found himself in another sort of prison, where for 40 years he suffered under one of the most brutal and repressive regimes the world has known. This fast-paced, harrowing tale, told plainly and simply by Jenkins (with journalist Jim Frederick), takes the listener behind the North Korean curtain and reveals the inner workings of its isolated society while offering a powerful testament to the human spirit.

©2008 The Regents of the University of California; Foreword copyright 2008 by Jim Frederick (P)2018 Tantor

Interesting story

This was an interesting story and I recommend this book. The story was engaging. You are able to learn what life is like in North Korea. It also made me take stock of all of the things we have here in the west.

Honesty

Liked how the story was told. The reader was excellent! Spoke clearly and was expressive!

Insightful and a fantastic read

This is a thoughtful and insightful view into an American’s experience in North Korea. Having read many books written by North Korean defectors I know the author and his family did not physically suffer to the extent most North Korean nationals did in that time. BUT the author was not allowed to leave North Korea for 40 years!!!! And the way he was treated and had constant oversight by the government, etc is fascinating.

Interesting Story

This was an extremely interesting book about the life of an Army sergeant who deserted to North Korea in the 1960s. While his story was a glimpse of North Korea as told by a foreigner who lived there for almost 40 years, I did not have much sympathy for Jenkins. He was essentially a coward who went AWOL because he did not want to go to Vietnam. His years living in North Korea were a deserved penance for his stupidity. He seemed to have a life much better than a majority of native North Koreans. As the wife of a career military man, who served from 1967 until 1988, I am a bit prejudiced. The voice actor was very good and kept me listening.

Excellent history and human story

Excellent historical perspective as well as a great human story. Super easy to stay engaged with this book. Great perspective on North Korea it’s relationship with the US, Japan and the world.

Unique story, worth reading!

Interesting and unique story. Vital in understanding the human element of the tragedy of North Korea.

Amazing story

Quite an amazing story. One of few books I listened to from start to finish in a single setting. Gripping story about certainly one of the most interesting people of the last century. Highly recommended and the performance really brings you into it as well.

A long glimpse into the unknown

Rarely do I pick up a book that I can’t put down. However, this was one of them. Seeing how Jenkins survived 40 years in “hell” was so sad, yet so interesting — and he had it much better off than most North Koreans. Well worth reading!

A very complex story.

At first, I judged the author harshly for deserting his post, but now I see the human side of him.

excellent story

I struggled with the narrator's voice for quite a while but eventually, the story was so captivating I could ignore it.