anothetbennet's review against another edition
4.0
This book tells the story of the fighter pilot, No Kum Sok, who for years pretended to worship The Great Leader and the regime in order to buy his ticket to freedom.
What’s interesting about this book aside from No’s personal story is the chronicled rise of Kim Il Sung and and the accounts of the Korean War.
It reads like a thriller, like a good fiction book yet it’s the recounting of true events, I guess that’s the most fascinating part for me.
It was a different story from the ones I’m usually used to read about North Korean defectors but still a very interesting and insightful perspective.
What’s interesting about this book aside from No’s personal story is the chronicled rise of Kim Il Sung and and the accounts of the Korean War.
It reads like a thriller, like a good fiction book yet it’s the recounting of true events, I guess that’s the most fascinating part for me.
It was a different story from the ones I’m usually used to read about North Korean defectors but still a very interesting and insightful perspective.
kathleenitpdx's review
4.0
When I took history in the U.S., the Korean War usually rated a couple of pages in the text book that was squeezed in as the school year ran out. (the Viet Nam War was news, not yet history). This book was a revelation to me. Aided by recent access to Soviet and Chinese archives and de-classified US records as well as the North Korean pilot who flew a MiG to South Korea, Harden has cleared some of the intentional fog that has surrounded this piece of world history. The story is very readable and personal as the author tells of Kenneth Rowe's life and fills in the history of North Korea by following Kim Il Sung.
There are lessons here for the U.S. as we cope with dictators and regional wars.
There are lessons here for the U.S. as we cope with dictators and regional wars.
maebinnig's review
4.0
When I won this ARC from a Goodreads Giveaway, my thought was that I would read it, review it, and then give it to my brother, who loves war history. Now I'm pretty sure I will just let him borrow it.
I went into this book knowing next to nothing about the Korean War, making this a sobering and eye-opening read. Its writing style feels closer to a novel than it to a textbook, but it is certainly full of extensive research. Shortcomings on both sides of the war are given the same scrutiny. This is not a propaganda piece. Once I really started reading, I was as immersed in this story as I was in Game of Thrones, which I was reading at the same time.
Don't get me wrong; there are unpolished or awkward sentences here and there. And because it's a true story, it sometimes doesn't feel like the perfect narrative arc that you expect from writing of this caliber. But those things aren't enough to keep me from recommending this to pretty much anyone.
I went into this book knowing next to nothing about the Korean War, making this a sobering and eye-opening read. Its writing style feels closer to a novel than it to a textbook, but it is certainly full of extensive research. Shortcomings on both sides of the war are given the same scrutiny. This is not a propaganda piece. Once I really started reading, I was as immersed in this story as I was in Game of Thrones, which I was reading at the same time.
Don't get me wrong; there are unpolished or awkward sentences here and there. And because it's a true story, it sometimes doesn't feel like the perfect narrative arc that you expect from writing of this caliber. But those things aren't enough to keep me from recommending this to pretty much anyone.
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