the powerful villains

Having read several book's on North Korea this is by far the best of the selection. The book covers all of the questions the world is asking about North Korea and gives a fantastic insight into the life and mind of the man running this bizarre country.

Breen's outline of the Dear Leader is approriate for the bizzare, often silly nature of his subject. The author moves back and forth between academic and personal observations, happily mocking the disgusting powers that be in North Korea.

I agree with the review who did not like the "Is Kim Jong-Il evil?" chapter. It seemed like filler at one point. I also felt that the end of the book lacked some of the witty writing I found in the very well done introductory part.

All in all an enjoyable read- worth the cash for a few insights into a fascinating (but disturbing character).

It is not worth paying money for this book. Mr Breen offers no new insights into Kim Jong Il and has simply rehashed information available on the internet. I suggest anyone interested in North Korea and Kim Jong Il either select another book or save their time and money and spend 5 minutes doing a google search.

In describing North Korea and it's leader in terms such as a "dump" Mr Breen has reduced this book from simply being boring and worthless to nothing more than tabloid type gutter press.

Kim Jong Il is a major player in wrld politics and I was interested to see that finally someone had taken the time to write a book on him. I was sadly disapointed when I sat down to read the book. It was a waste of my time and my money. I hope Mr Breen makes no further attempts to insult our intelligence by writing more books.