Kim Il Sung was the enigmatic architect of North Korea. His life is an extraordinary story of unexpected success: from a barely educated guerrilla fighter to his rise to lead the country at the age of thirty-three. Against all odds, he established a terrifyingly stable dictatorial regime, one that still struggles to provide for its people, and yet is capable of destroying Hollywood, Silicon Valley, and much of East Asia with nuclear strikes.Drawing on extensive new sources in Korean, Russian, Chinese, and Japanese, Fyodor Tertetsky tells the unexpected story of one of the twentieth century's most brutal but little-known dictators, from his early life in Japanese Korea to the continuing repercussions of his authoritarian rule today. Tertitsky highlights Kim's political prowess in gaining independence from the Soviet Union; He explores how his failed economic policy led to a catastrophic famine; And he shedsShedding light on how he implemented hereditary rule, paving the way for the current “supreme leader,” Kim Jong Un, to take power and continue his grandfather’s vision. It counts
The Accidental Tyrant is a stark cautionary tale that the triumph of freedom is never guaranteed. In the face of insufficient resistance, even the most exclusionary leader may build an oppressive and disenfranchising regime that outlasts its founder.
