In North Korea: An American Travels through an Imprisoned Nation FROM THE PUBLISHER
This is an account of an American woman's recent travels through North Korea. Throughout her journey, she continually witnessed rundown villages, starving children with hollow eyes, haggard women crawling in the fields for single grains of rice and civilians unloading food aid at the point of bayonets.
The author predicts that North Korea's economic reform, which has just started, will progress slowly, but that the country will one day be open to the outside world. It may, however, take another twenty years for this reform to be complete. Small, reluctant changes have already happened though, and this book expresses optimism that one day the North Korean people will end their isolation and join the world's mainstream.
About the Author:
Writer Nanchu lives in Athens Georgia. Her articles have appeared in Rocky Mountain News, Mid-US News, and Shanghai Health News. Xing Hang is an Eastern Studies scholar at the University of Georgia. He lives in Doraville.
SYNOPSIS
The author, who was raised in Maoist China, describes her travels through North Korea during the year 2000, describing a nightmare world of total government control, rampant starvation, and a completely collapsed economy. Along the way, she considers the possibilities for change, arguing against President Bush's hostile rhetoric and urging a policy of engagement. Annotation ©2003 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
FROM THE CRITICS
Library Journal
This book documents an American woman's journey through North Korea, giving us her impressions through words and photographs. Freelance journalist Nanchu was born in the People's Republic of China and is now an American citizen; coauthor Xing Hang is an Eastern studies scholar. Sadly, most of what Nanchu observed was poverty, starvation, and a harsh, murderous dictatorship. She saw people trying to eat grass roots and tree bark and states that in February 2002 two million children in the country were starving-a figure that doubled in nine months. Of course, this information cannot be verified, because the country has shut itself in and is one of the most secretive on Earth. That is why the book is so fascinating and important; at least it provides a look at such a forbidden place. Nanchu draws numerous comparisons to Mao's Great Leap Forward, whose hardships she herself weathered. The book contains black-and-white photographs and an excellent appendix and index. Recommended for public and academic libraries with an interest in current events and political science.-Melinda Stivers Leach, Precision Editorial Svcs., Wondervu, CO Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
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