North Korea’s Mundane Revolution

"North Korea's Mundane Revolution is an intellectual game changer—a brilliant, completely original approach to researching and writing North Korean history."—Carter J. Eckert, author of Park Chung Hee and Modern Korea: The Roots of Militarism, 1866–1945

"A bold and exhilarating work of history. Andre Schmid tells the story of the part that ordinary people played in fleshing out the unique socialist modernity practiced in North Korea. Destined to be a classic in the field, this book is an empirically rich and theoretically sophisticated account of social life in North Korea in one of the most consequential moments of its history. Utterly compelling."—Ruth Barraclough, author of Factory Girl Literature: Sexuality, Violence, and Representation in Industrializing Korea

"Authoritative, engaging, and the product of a lifetime of research on nationhood, North Korea's Mundane Revolution dispenses with tired narratives that reduce the country's history to bizarre tales of the Kim dynasty, state propaganda, and inherent brutality. Drawing on an impressive array of printed materials, this study deeply textures North Korea's socialist revolution, untangles the myths that shroud Cold War ideology, and drives the final nails into the old totalitarian model. This stunning book transcends simplistic portrayals of North Korea, immersing readers in a nuanced exploration of this enigmatic nation."—Theodore Jun Yoo, author of The Koreas: The Birth of Two Nations Divided