What happens when a dictator wins absolute power and isolates a nation from the outside world? North Korea's Kim Jong Il made himself into a living god, surrounded by lies and flattery and beyond criticism. As over two million of his subjects starved to death, he lived in palaces stocked with the most expensive delicacies from around the world. Outside, the steel mills shut down, the trains stopped running, the power went out, and the hospitals ran out of medicine. When the population threatened to revolt, Kim imposed a reign of terror, deceived the United Nations, and plundered the country's resources to become a nuclear power. Journalist Becker takes us inside one of the most secretive countries in the world, which seems destined to linger on for some time, a menace to its own people and to the rest of the world.--From publisher description.

Famine and flight -- The Kim dynasty -- The making of a god king -- Slave state -- North Korea's economic collapse -- Kim Jong Il's court -- Kim Jong Il--the terrorist master -- Nuclear warlord -- Kim Jong Il--the reformer -- The UN and genocide -- Kim Dae Jung and the South Korean way -- Grappling with a rogue state.