Book review: The Great Successor: The Secret Rise and Rule of Kim Jong Un

A clear-eyed portrait of a cold-blooded tyrant

Kim Jong Un: his family’s political dynasty has now ruled North Korea for more than 70 years Pic: Getty

BIOGRAPHY: The Great Successor: The Secret Rise and Rule of Kim Jong Un, By Anna Fifield, John Murray, €23

Among the titles that Kim Jong Un bestowed on himself when, in 2011, he became the Supreme Leader of North Korea were the ‘Best Incarnation of Love, Invincible and Triumphant General’ and the ‘Sun of Mankind’. (In China, online wits gave him the less flattering title of ‘Kim Fatty The Third’.)

Kim’s coronation was ...