"Through poignant, laugh-out-loud essays and 92 never-before-published color photographs of North Korea, [the author] chronicles one of the strangest vacations ever. Along the way, she bares all while undergoing an inner journey as convoluted as the country itself."--

"'I am most grateful for two things: that I was born in North Korea, and that I escaped from North Korea.' Yeonmi Park was not dreaming of freedom when she escaped from North Korea. She didn't even know what it meant to be free. All she knew was that she was running for her life, that if she and her family stayed behind they would die--from starvation, or disease, or even execution. This book is the story of Park's struggle to survive in the darkest,...

"With its zeal for secrecy and seclusion, North Korea has long been called the Hermit Kingdom. It separated from South Korea after a communist revolt in the late 1940s. Since then the nation has followed a path of totalitarian control.Just as the government strives to keep its people in the dark, it works just as hard to keep facts about North Korea from reaching the outside world."--Provided by publisher.

"North Korea is poised at the crossroads of history. Which direction will its leader take? The answer concerns the whole world. Throughout the world, oppressive regimes are being uprooted and replaced by budding democracies, but one exception remains: The People's Republic of North Korea. The Kim family has clung to power for three generations by silencing dissidents, ruling with an iron fist, and holding its neighbors hostage with threats of war....