Historical Context

Throughout the 1990s, North Korea has operated under a skeptical international eye, due largely to the country's rigorous self-imposed isolation, its ongoing confrontation with South Korea, a controversial nuclear arms program, and the near-total collapse of its economy.

Political Culture and Leadership

North Korea's leaders have chosen to face the world with its Stalinist political culture and ideological framework intact, for better or worse—and by most reports, almost exclusively for the worst.

Book Overview

How did this situation come to be, and what are its consequences? In The Guerilla Dynasty, Adrian Buzo gives us an accessible, up-to-date, and rigorously researched account of the political, economic, and foreign policy developments in North Korea since 1945.