Welcome to Litsy!

Kim Jong-il: North Koreas Dear Leader is a fascinating tour through the tortured history of North Korea and the mind of Kim Jong-il. A must read for all those trying to understand what is happening in the hermit kingdom and what is now one of the most unstable places on earth. The potential for a miscalculation is breathtaking in its dangers to us all." Mike Moore, Former Director-General of WTO and former Prime Minister of New Zealand "In Kim Jong Il: North Korea's Dear Leader, Michael Breen provides what much of the world has been waiting for: an in-depth look at the dark and secret Korea of Kim Jong-Il. His insights are revelatory, sophisticated, and plainly communicated. A testament to its accuracy, I doubt the book will see the light of day inside North Korea." Dan Briody, Author of bestseller, The Iron Triangle: Inside the Secret World of the Carlyle Group "Michael Breen's portrait of Kim Jong-il is a compelling psychoanalysis of the world's last Stalinist dictator. The book explains how Kim manages to maintain an iron grip over his poverty-stricken country while holding the world's only superpower to ransom with weapons of mass destruction. In parts the book reads like a black comedy, so bizarre is the regime it describes. Breen combines his eye for farce with a keen sensitivity to the plight of North Korea's 22 million oppressed and starving people. But he makes clear it is too simplistic to dismiss Kim as an evil madman. Breen shows how North Korea is an accident of history, trapped in a Cold War time warp from which Kim is unable to escape. A lively and accessible read." Andrew Ward, Korea correspondent, Financial Times "One can be free to hate him but we must also learn more of the "Fat Bastard" for he is unlikely to disappear however we wish him to. Michael Breen has written an extremely timely, readable and well researched book to tell us who Kim Jong-il is and how best to deal with him." Tomohiko Taniguchi, Editor-at-Large, Nikkei Business Publications, Inc.