John Everard (2)

Although the writing was somewhat dry, anyone interested in North Korea would find this book fascinating. The author spent 2006 to 2008 there as the British ambassador, and seeks to tell, as well as he can, what daily life is like for the average North Korean. His reports were full of surprises. North Korean society is full of contradictions, I'll leave it at that.

I had read some books before by North Koreans, but they were all defectors, who can't really be called "average" representatives of that deeply troubled nation. I'm sure Mr. Everard's point of view is necessarily limited, but I still feel like I learned a great deal from him about ordinary life there, much more than I learned from the defectors' memoirs.

I might also add that he goes into the background of the Korean War and so on, so that even people who know nothing about it (which would include me) will not get lost. This book made me want to find out more about the Korean War.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the topic.… (meer)