Fyodor Tertitskiy

A briskly written primer on the North Korean decisions, foreign interventions and accidents of fate which have both threatened and, ultimately, preserved the country's dictatorship. This nimble tour through North Korea's history revisits sixteen knife-edge moments when collapse, reform or war nearly shattered the Kim dynasty. Structured in four acts--from the peninsula's partition in 1945 to Kim Jong-un's 2020 health scare--each chapter reconstructs a crisis and asks, what i? egime change has come within reach far more often than we realise: defeat in the Korean War, leadership challenges in 1956, aborted coups, unrest during a currency crisis--even an armed clash with the US in the 1990s. Kim Il-sung's acclaimed biographer, Fyodor Tertitskiy, guides readers through these events, and explores why change failed to materialise on each occasion. His narrative blends the twists and turns of palace intrigue and battlefield drama with crystal-clear dissections of ideology, institutions and great- power competition. Drawing on Korean, Russian, Chinese and Japanese sources, Tertitskiy offers nuance without special pleading. By tracing the decisions, miscalculations and foreign interventions that locked the peninsula into stalemate, Pyongyang on the Brink offers a swift, fresh look at deterrence, engagement and the future of millions living under the Kims' yoke. Is North Korea truly doomed to never-ending tyranny?

Kim Il-sung was the enigmatic architect of North Korea. His life is an extraordinary tale of improbable success: once a barely educated guerrilla fighter, he rose to lead the nation at the young age of 33. Against all odds, he established a horrifyingly stable dictatorial regime, one that still struggles to provide for its people, yet could obliterate Hollywood, Silicon Valley and much of East Asia in nuclear strikes. Based on extensive new sources in Korean, Russian, Chinese and Japanese, Fyodor Tertitskiy tells the unlikely story of one of the twentieth century''s most brutal but little-known dictators, from his early life in Japanese Korea to the lasting repercussions of his autocratic rule today. Tertitskiy showcases Kim''s political prowess in gaining autonomy from the USSR; explores how his inept economic policy led to catastrophic famine; and highlights how he implemented a system of hereditary rule, paving the way for today''s ''Supreme Leader'', Kim Jong-un, to assume power and continue his grandfather''s vision. Accidental Tyrant serves as a stark cautionary tale, underscoring that the triumph of liberty is never guaranteed. Met with insufficient resistance, even the most unlikely leader can build a regime of repression and privation that long outlives its founder.