What I know about North Korea could be written on a stamp, but I've been completely engrossed by this fascinating book based on interviews with defectors, weaving together the stories of six ordinary people's lives in the grip of (shockingly recent) famine, under a regime that had at least one informer for every 50 citizens; more even than East Germany's Stasi. The young lovers who meet in darkness, too fearful even to confide in each other about their growing doubts - the kindergarten teacher who sees her little pupils starving to death - the mothers struggling to feed their families on foraged grass and corn husks, but still dutifully dusting the obligatory portrait of 'Our Dear Leader' - the loyal doctor's stunned realisation that in neighbouring China, even the dogs eat better. 5* recommendation for one of the best books I've read this year.