{"product_id":"kim-il-sung-gordon-j-mackenzie-9798261775225","title":"Kim Il-sung: The State He Turned Into a Cage","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eHe promised to liberate Korea. He built a cage instead.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eKim Il-sung rose from a colonial childhood under Japanese rule to become the \"Eternal President\" of one of the most controlled societies on earth. For half a century he ruled North Korea as guerrilla hero, supreme commander and father of the nation-then died in bed, embalmed in marble and glass while his people endured famine, fear and permanent mobilisation.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Dictator's Burden: Kim Il-sung and the State He Turned Into a Cage\u003c\/i\u003e follows his life from underground activism and partisan war through Soviet-backed power, the devastation of the Korean War, and the long, methodical construction of a totalitarian dynasty. Drawing on the broader history of the twentieth century, it shows how a man shaped by empire and conflict fused nationalism, communism and personality cult into a system that outlived him-and trapped millions inside his story.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis book explores: \u003cbr\u003e- Kim's path from student radical to Moscow-backed strongman\u003cbr\u003e- The decisions that led to the Korean War-and its frozen aftermath\u003cbr\u003e- How camps, surveillance and inherited guilt became pillars of his rule\u003cbr\u003e- The creation of the Kim dynasty and the burden it placed on his heirs\u003cbr\u003e- What his life reveals about dictatorship in a broken century\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eClear-eyed and unsentimental, \u003ci\u003eThe Dictator's Burden\u003c\/i\u003e treats Kim Il-sung not as a caricature, but as a case study in how one person's fears, ambitions and excuses can bend an entire country around them-and why the patterns he embodied still matter far beyond the Korean Peninsula.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Gordon J. MacKenzie\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9798261775225\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Independently Published\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 12\/17\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 234\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.63lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.59d","brand":"Gordon J. MacKenzie","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":48874531619071,"sku":"9798261775225","price":15.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/kim-il-sung-gordon-j-mackenzie-9798261775225","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}