I found this chilling and ultimately triumphant odyssey of escape from infamous Camp 14 in North Korea by turns heartbreaking and stirring - an unforgettable and important read. — Amy Palmer
Children born within the confines of North Korean labor camps are as close to feral humans as the world has ever seen. The vast majority of them will live a short life into adulthood and never see or hear about the outside world. They are told to snitch on adults (parents included) and peers, never steal so much as a grain of rice and must submit to beatings on a daily basis. Disobeying any of these or other rules is punishable by death. This harrowing account of one mans' survival and escape is eyeopening to severely neglected human rights issue.
— Northshire StaffThe 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 Dong-hyuk 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.