The author's gruff mannerisms initially had me a little bit lost. He's funny, and it felt at first like he was making light of the issues in North Korea but the further I got into the book, the more I could see just how much he cared about the people whose lives are run by the regime. This was one of the most informative books I've read about the dprk and their global impact. I had no idea that communist resistance fighters from other countries had gone to North Korea to learn to fight and make bombs. I came of age in a time where Kim Jong-Un' was a meme. The depth and breadth of North Korean global influence and history explored in this book was very interesting and well written. I'm curious about the authors other books on other dictatorships.