THE STORY THEY COULDN'T HACK: In this international bestseller, a high-ranking counterintelligence agent describes his life as a former poet laureate to Kim Jong-il and his breathtaking escape to freedom. As North Korea’s State Poet Laureate, Jang Jin-sung led a charmed life. With food provisions (even as the country suffered through its great famine), a travel pass, access to strictly censored information, and audiences with Kim Jong-il himself, his life in Pyongyang seemed safe and secure. But this privileged existence was about to be shattered. When a strictly forbidden magazine he lent to a friend goes missing, Jang Jin-sung must flee for his life. Never before has a member of the elite described the inner workings of this totalitarian state and its propaganda machine. An astonishing exposé told through the heart-stopping story of Jang Jin-sung’s escape to South Korea, Dear Leader is an “impossibly dramatic story…one of the best depictions yet of North Korea’s nightmare” (Publishers Weekly).

The only certainty in life is death. Even the most powerful leaders throughout history were unable to cheat the Grim Reaper. World leaders, whether revered or reviled, are rarely allowed to exit gracefully from life but instead receive a state funeral, a major international event incorporating splendid symbols and messages, religious faith, and tradition. The body of Tsar Alexander III was carried across half of Russia before finally being buried in St. Petersburg. People paid obscene amounts of money for a room that gave a glimpse of Queen Victoria’s fascinating State funeral. The cortège for China’s Empress-Dowager Cixi was not to be photographed – nevertheless photos showed up a century later. For political reasons Generalissimo Franco’s body was exhumed decades after his death. The world became acquainted with a rather unusual ancient Roman Catholic ritual, when Pope John Paul I died. The body of India’s Indira Gandhi was confined to sacred flames. The last journey of Marshal Tito turned into an event of “Funeral Diplomacy”, whilst Khomeini’s funeral ended in frenzy and tumult. In 2021 the massive restrictions imposed due to the Covid-19 pandemic meant a rigid downsizing of Prince Philip’s funeral, hardly any guests were allowed to attend. This revealing and entertaining book provides an insight into unique obsequies from across the world, seen as both a celebration of life and the honouring of death.

North Korea's prison camps, the most secure camps in the world, which have existed more than twice as long as Stalin's gulags, are a one-way ticket to death. In over sixty years, only a handful of people have escaped them. Chae, Jae, and Park--three camp-bred boys whose existence the government denies--overhear rumors from the guards about the outside world and begin to piece together the building blocks for an escape, that is, until Chae unwittingly runs over a guard with a runaway mining cart. Within days, Chae's execution is set. Will he be executed, or will his friends Jae and Park succeed in getting him--and themselves--out alive?

From distant stars to a Cocoa Beach Hooters, Derwin Mak's short fiction takes readers through tales of mystery, wonder, and horror. Ethnic traditions meld with fantastic visions in these twelve stories about memory fabric, eldritch gods during the Salem witch trials, and of course, Mecha-Jesus, Japan's very own android kami.

The 2018 summit meeting between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un brought renewed international attention to North Korea and its leading dynasty. Ruled by three successive generations of the Kim family, North Korea is one of the most authoritarian states in the world. This collection of articles covers the history of their dynasty, including Kim Il-sung's assumption of power in the wake of World War II, the intense cult of personality surrounding him that followed, and the twice-over handoff of power from father to son, first to Kim Jong-il and later to Kim Jong-un. This in-depth coverage presents a tale of human rights abuses, famine, and nuclearization at the hands of three eccentric, unpredictable, and fiercely nationalistic dictators.

A happy accident, born out of junk parts and frustration, the Canopy harnesses forgotten technology to trap light particles and convert them to portals. Now, thousands of locations can be reached in a second. Anywhere in the world is just a jump away. For first-year engineering student Mitch Campbell, his invention of the Canopy is a shortcut to acclaim—an opportunity to don the mantle of Genius, and become, with his friends, Dean and Wayne, a travel baron for a new age. For Jin Ae, soldier of a divided nation, the Canopy threatens her country's fragile stalemate, endangers her family, and fuels the plans of a madman dictator bent on retribution. She must find a way to thwart his insanity before her country—and many others—are lost. Duty and ambition collide when Mitch uncovers the technology's origins. Soon, he and Jin must cross boundaries to work together, dodge disaster, and save millions—all at the speed of light.

Bestselling author and former US Navy JAG Officer Don Brown’s Pacific Rim series is now available in one volume! Thunder in the Morning Calm Sixty years after his grandfather disappeared in Korea, a young naval intelligence officer seeks the truth behind rumors that American POWs are still being held there. Risking his life, fortune, and freedom, he leads a daring mission into the dangerous dictatorship of North Korea—all for the love of his country and a grandfather he never knew. Fire of the Raging Dragon In Fire of the Raging Dragon—the second book in best-selling author Don Brown’s Pacific Rim Series—Stephanie Surber is stationed on board a submarine tender in the South China Sea when a naval war breaks out. After a gruesome discovery escalates America’s involvement, Stephanie’s father, US President Douglas Surber, must choose to take a stand against evil . . . or save the life of his daughter. Storming the Black Ice When British geologists discover the world's largest oil reserves under the desolate, icy tundra of Antarctica, Britain and Chile form a top-secret alliance for control of petroleum resources that will rival the economic power of OPEC.

No country is as misunderstood as North Korea, and no modern tyrant has remained more mysterious than the Dear Leader, Kim Jong Il. Now, celebrity ghostwriter Michael Malice pulls back the curtain to expose the life story of the "Incarnation of Love and Morality." Taken directly from books spirited out of Pyongyang, DEAR READER is a carefully reconstructed first-person account of the man behind the mythology. From his miraculous rainbow-filled birth during the fiery conflict of World War II, Kim Jong Il watched as his beloved Korea finally earned its freedom from the cursed Japanese. Mere years later, the wicked US imperialists took their chance at conquering the liberated nation—with devastating results. But that's only the beginning of the Dear Leader's story. In DEAR READER, Kim Jong Il explains: *How he can shrink time *Why he despises the Mona Lisa *How he recreated the arts in Korea *Why the Juche idea is the greatest concept ever discovered by man *How he handled the crippling famine *Why Kim Jong Un was chosen as successor over his elder brothers With nothing left uncovered, drawing straight from dozens of books, hundreds of articles and thousands of years of Korean history, DEAR READER is both the definitive account of Kim Jong Il's life and the complete stranger-than-fiction history of the world's most unique country.

We begin at the end. The armies of the National Defence Movement have been crushed and our unnamed narrator and his unit are surrounded. Prepared for defeat at the hands of the enemy and with only his sins for company, he turns to confession. Chidi Ebere’s debut novel is a profound reflection on how good people can do terrible things – precipitated by circumstances and the violence of war. As he recounts the events leading to his disastrous finale, we learn how this gentle man is gradually transformed into a war criminal, committing acts he wouldn’t have thought himself capable. Unflinching, thought-provoking and devastating, Now I Am Here resonates far beyond the individual story of our narrator. Perfect for readers of Uzo Iweala’s Beasts of No Nation, Giles Foden’s The Last King of Scotland and Abdulrazak Gurnah’s Afterlives.

Peter Jobe has just been named the unwilling leader of a study group of four other graduate students whose specialties range from neuroscience to religious studies. The five come from different countries and different disciplines, but they quickly realize the synergy of their ideas could revolutionize the scientific and religious communities. But as Peter's group is beginning to bond, another meeting of the minds is taking place halfway around the world. An unlikely collection of warlords and terrorists have pooled their resources and devised a devastating plan. As the countdown begins, Peter and his friends realize they may be the only ones standing between America and a nuclear holocaust.