Escape from Camp 14 One Mans Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West

-Barbara Demick, author of Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea

"If you have a soul, you will be changed forever by Blaine Harden's Escape from Camp 14...Harden masterfully allows us to know Shin, not as a giant but as a man, struggling to understand what was done to him and what he was forced to do to survive. By doing so, Escape from Camp 14 stands as a searing indictment of a depraved regime and a tribute to all those who cling to their humanity in the face of evil."

-Mitchell Zuckoff, New York Times bestselling author of Lost in Shangri-La

"With a protagonist born into a life of backbreaking labor, cutthroat rivalries, and a nearly complete absence of human affection, Harden's book reads like a dystopian thriller. But this isn't fiction-it's the biography of Shin Dong-hyuk."

-Publishers Weekly

"Mr. Shin's story, at times painful to read, recounts his physical and psychological journey from a lifetime of imprisonment in a closed and unfeeling prison society to the joys and challenges of life in a free society where he can live like a human being."

-Kongdan Oh, co-author of The Hidden People of North Korea: Everyday Life in the Hermit Kingdom

"Through the extraordinary arc of Shin's life, Harden illuminates the North Korea that exists beyond the headlines and creates a moving testament to one man's struggle to retrieve his own lost humanity."

-Marcus Noland, co-author of Witness to Transformation: Refugee Insights into North Korea

and#8212;Daniel James Brown, New York Times bestselling author of The Boys in the Boat and#160; and#8220;I could not put this book down. The interwoven stories of Kim Il-Sung and MiG fighter pilot No Kum Sok are carefully researched and artfully told. Harden shows how each man played the system to achieve his lifelong goaland#8212;in Kim's case, the creation of a personality cult and oppressive regime, and in No's case, defection from it. Harden succeeds in offering a unique lens on North Korean history and politics that offers something for both the general and expert readership.and#8221;

and#8212;Dr. Victor Cha, Professor of Government and Director of Asian Studies, Georgetown University; former National Security Council director for Asian affairs, 2004-7 and#160; and#8220;Having exposed the full horror of the North Korean gulag by telling the story of Shin Dong-hyukand#8217;s escape from Camp 14, Blaine Harden now uses contrasting portraits of the founding tyrant Kim Il Sung and the young MiG pilot who flew to freedom six decades ago to explain how the monstrous political system of North Korea came into existence in the first place. and#160;The result is a triumph of story-telling that brings history to life and explains why the North Korean regime is such a menace to its own people and to the world.and#8221;

and#8212;Carl Gershman, President of the National Endowment for Democracy and#160; and#8220;The Great Leader and the Fighter Pilot is at once a fascinating look at how evil takes hold and how one ordinary man escapes its grasp with wit and determination. Hardenand#8217;s compelling narrative is not to be missed, an outstanding follow-up to Escape from Camp 14.and#8221;

and#8212;Gregory A. Freeman, author of The Gathering Wind: Hurricane Sandy, the Sailing Ship Bounty, and a Courageous Rescue at Sea and#160; and#8220;A masterful account of a forgotten story from a forgotten war. In an artful blending of the stories of Kim Il-Sungand#8217;s rise to power and leadership of North Korea during the Korean War, with that of No Kum Sok, a young man who became a fighter pilot in the North Korean Air Force and who defected to South Korea in his MiG-15, Harden provides us with a unique insight into a missing chapter of the Korean War. Hardenand#8217;s account of No Kum Sokand#8217;s life before, during and after the Korean War is a commanding performance of interviews and exploitation of declassified intelligence documents. The Great Leader and the Fighter Pilot is recommended to anyone interested in the Korean War, Kim Il-Sung or military aviation.and#8221;

and#8212;Joseph Bermudez, North Korea expert and Chief Analytics Officer and Co-Founder, A Unique Advantage and#160; and#8220;A rewarding book with much to offer, including the likely spark of new interest in how singular choices made by both men and nations can reverberate for generations.and#8221;

and#8212;Kirkus Reviews

and#160; Praise for Escape From Camp 14 and#160; "Hardenand#8217;s book, besides being a gripping story, unsparingly told, carries a freight of intelligence about this black hole of a country." and#8212;Bill Keller, The New York Times and#160; and#8220;A remarkable story, [Escape from Camp 14 ] is a searing account of one manand#8217;s incarceration and personal awakening in North Koreaand#8217;s highest-security prison.and#8221; and#8212;The Wall Street Journal and#160; and#8220;A book without parallel, Escape from Camp 14 is a riveting nightmare that bears witness to the worst inhumanity, an unbearable tragedy magnified by the fact that the horror continues at this very moment without an end in sight.and#8221; and#8212;Terry Hong, Christian Science Monitor and#160; "U.S. policymakers wonder what changes may arise after the recent death of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, this gripping book should raise awareness of the brutality that underscores this strange land. Without interrupting the narrative, Harden skillfully weaves in details of North Korea's history, politics and society, providing context for Shin's plight.and#8221; and#8212;The Associated Press and#160; and#8220;[Shinand#8217;s] tale becomes even more gripping after his unprecedented journey . . . after he realizes that he has been raised as something less than human. He gradually, haltinglyand#8212;and, so far, with mixed successand#8212;sets out to remake himself as a moral, feeling human being.and#8221; and#8212;Fred Hiatt, The Washington Post and#160; and#8220;The central character in Blaine Harden's extraordinary new book Escape from Camp 14 reveals more in 200 pages about human darkness in the ghastliest corner of the world's cruelest dictatorship than a thousand textbooks ever could . . . Escape from Camp 14, the story of Shin's awakening, escape and new beginning, is a riveting, remarkable book that should be required reading in every high-school or college-civics class. Like "The Diary of Anne Frank" or Dith Pran's account of his flight from Pol Pot's genocide in Cambodia, it's impossible to read this excruciatingly personal account of systemic monstrosities without fearing you might just swallow your own heart . . . Harden's wisdom as a writer shines on every page.and#8221; and#8212;The Seattle Times and#160; and#8220;A riveting new biography . . . If you want a singular perspective on what goes on inside the rogue regime, then you must read [this] story. and#160;Itand#8217;s a harrowing tale of endurance and courage, at times grim but ultimately life-affirming.and#8221; and#8212;CNN and#160; and#8220;As an action story, the tale of Shinand#8217;s breakout and flight is pure The Great Escape, full of feats of desperate bravery and miraculous good luck. As a human story it is gut wrenching; if what he was made to endure, especially that he was forced to view his own family merely as competitors for food, was written in a movie script, you would think the writer was overreaching. But perhaps most important is the light the book shines on an under-discussed issue, an issue on which the West may one day be called into account for its inactivity.and#8221; and#8212;The Daily Beast and#160; and#8220;Blaine Harden's chronicle of Shin Dong-hyuk's life in a North Korean prison camp and his eventual escape is a slim, searing, humble bookand#8212;as close to perfect as these volumes of anguished testimony can be.and#8221; and#8212;Book Forum

—Wall Street Journal

“Vital to our understanding of life in North Korea.”

—Washington Post

"There's something riveting about his honesty; he portrays the bleak conditions, dwindling resources, eternal uncertainty, and loss of dignity with an unashamed matter-of-factness almost at odds with the desperate circumstances...Kim's tale is a vital insight into a little-understood country and a modern day tragedy."

—Publishers Weekly, starred review "This short, brutish book—with chapter-ending cliffhangers presaging the next hard twist—will enlighten readers as to the devastating hardships facing those living in North Korea during the 'great famine.'"

—Booklist “Told with poise and dignity, Kim’s story…provides vivid documentation of a remarkable life. It also offers an important account of atrocities committed within North Korea that have been hidden from the West—and indeed, most of the rest of the world. A courageous and inspiring memoir.”

—Kirkus Reviews

North Korea is isolated and hungry, bankrupt and belligerent. It is also armed with nuclear weapons. Between 150,000 and 200,000 people are being held in its political prison camps, which have existed twice as long as Stalin's Soviet gulags and twelve times as long as the Nazi concentration camps. Very few born and raised in these camps have escaped. But Shin Donghyuk did.

In Escape from Camp 14, acclaimed journalist Blaine Harden tells the story of Shin Dong-hyuk and through the lens of Shin's life unlocks the secrets of the world's most repressive totalitarian state. Shin knew nothing of civilized existence-he saw his mother as a competitor for food, guards raised him to be a snitch, and he witnessed the execution of his own family. Through Harden's harrowing narrative of Shin's life and remarkable escape, he offers an unequaled inside account of one of the world's darkest nations and a riveting tale of endurance, courage, and survival.

A New York Times bestseller, the shocking story of one of the few people born in a North Korean political prison to have escaped and survived.

North Korea is isolated and hungry, bankrupt and belligerent. It is also armed with nuclear weapons. Between 150,000 and 200,000 people are being held in its political prison camps, which have existed twice as long as Stalin's Soviet gulags and twelve times as long as the Nazi concentration camps. Very few born and raised in these camps have escaped. But Shin Donghyuk did.

In Escape from Camp 14, acclaimed journalist Blaine Harden tells the story of Shin Dong-hyuk and through the lens of Shin's life unlocks the secrets of the world's most repressive totalitarian state. Shin knew nothing of civilized existence-he saw his mother as a competitor for food, guards raised him to be a snitch, and he witnessed the execution of his own family. Through Harden's harrowing narrative of Shin's life and remarkable escape, he offers an unequaled inside account of one of the world's darkest nations and a riveting tale of endurance, courage, and survival.

Inside the hidden and mysterious world of North Korea, Joseph Kim lived a young boy’s normal life until he was five. Then disaster struck: the first wave of the Great Famine, a long, terrible ordeal that killed millions, including his father, and sent others, like his mother and only sister, on desperate escape routes into China. Alone on the streets, Joseph learned to beg and steal. He had nothing but a street-hardened survival instinct. Finally, in desperation, he too crossed a frozen river to escape to China.

There a kindly Christian woman took him in, kept him hidden from the authorities, and gave him hope. Soon, through an underground network of activists, he was spirited to the American consulate, and became one of just a handful of North Koreans to be brought to the U.S. as refugees. Joseph knew no English and had never been a good student. Yet the kindness of his foster family changed his life.  He turned a new leaf, became a dedicated student, mastered English, and made it to college, where he is now thriving thanks to his faith and inner strength. Under the Same Sky is an unforgettable story of suffering and redemption.

In The Great Leader and the Fighter Pilot, New York Times bestselling author Blaine Harden tells the riveting story of how Kim Il Sung grabbed power and plunged his country into war against the United States while the youngest fighter pilot in his air force was playing a high-risk game of deceptionand#151;and escape.

As Kim ascended from Soviet puppet to godlike ruler, No Kum Sok noisily pretended to love his Great Leader. That is, until he swiped a Soviet MiG-15 and delivered it to the Americans, not knowing they were offering a $100,000 bounty for the warplane (the equivalent of nearly one million

dollars today). The theftand#151;just weeks after the Korean War ended in July 1953and#151;electrified the world and incited Kimand#8217;s bloody vengeance.

During the Korean War the United States brutally carpet bombed the North, killing hundreds of thousands of civilians and giving the Kim dynasty, as Harden reveals, the fact-based narrative it would use to this day to sell paranoia and hatred of Americans.

Drawing on documents from Chinese and Russian archives about the role of Mao and Stalin in Kimand#8217;s shadowy rise, as well as from neverbefore- released U.S. intelligence and interrogation files, Harden gives us a heart-pounding escape adventure and an entirely new way to understand the worldand#8217;s longest-lasting totalitarian state.