North Korea, still incredibly secretive, is no longer a "black box" for the world. It looks like the radical social experiment that started there in the 1940s is coming to an end. And behind it are the fates of people - countless lives. Andrey Lankov, a well-known orientalist and publicist, tells about how these lives were lived and what is happening in the country now.The author has repeatedly visited North Korea and communicated with people from various walks of life. These are state security officers and smugglers, North Korean new rich and defectors, intellectuals (who seem to be prestigious, but still dangerous) and chauffeurs (who are both safe and still prestigious).The book tells about technologies (from exotic gas generators to the North Korean Internet) and monuments to leaders, about houses and trains, about hunger and delicacies - about the daily life of North Koreans, their worries, anxieties and joys. About how the DPRK is gradually and reluctantly opening up to the world.

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