North Korea: Fading Totalitarianism in the 'Hermit Kingdom'

North Korea is perceived by many as one of the most totalitarian societies of modern time. But in the wake of the economic collapse of the 1990s, North Korean totalitarianism has grappled with new conditions. This paper examines how the countrys totalitarian character has been upheld through the institutional changes instigated by the economic collapse and subsequent famine in the country. It strives to answer whether todays North Korea should still be characterized as a totalitarian society, and, if not, what system then governs the country

Post-Operative Functional Outcomes in Early Age Onset Rectal Cancer

Background: Impairment of bowel, urogenital and fertility-related function in patients treated for rectal cancer is common. While the rate of rectal cancer in the young (<50 years) is rising, there is little data on functional outcomes in this group. Methods: The REACCT international collaborative database was reviewed and data on eligible patients analysed. Inclusion criteria comprised patients with a histologically confirmed rectal cancer, <50 years of age at time of diagnosis and with documented follow-up including functional outcomes. Results: A total of 1428 (n=1428) patients met the eligibility criteria and were included in the final analysis. Metastatic disease was present at diagnosis in 13%. Of these, 40% received neoadjuvant therapy and 50% adjuvant chemotherapy. The incidence of post-operative major morbidity was 10%. A defunctioning stoma was placed for 621 patients (43%); 534 of these proceeded to elective restoration of bowel continuity. The median follow-up time was 42 months. Of this cohort, a total of 415 (29%) reported persistent impairment of functional outcomes, the most frequent of which was bowel dysfunction (16%), followed by bladder dysfunction (7%), sexual dysfunction (4.5%) and infertility (1%). Conclusion: A substantial proportion of patients with early-onset rectal cancer who undergo surgery report persistent impairment of functional status. Patients should be involved in the discussion regarding their treatment options and potential impact on quality of life. Functional outcomes should be routinely recorded as part of follow up alongside oncological parameters

Histories in Stone: The Musin Rebellion Stelae and Contested Factional Histories

The 1728 Musin Rebellion was a failed attempt by factional members to overthrow militarily King Yŏngjo’s government. Between 1736 and 1837, six stelae, dedicated to loyal subjects who resisted the rebels, were erected in three different provinces. These stelae contain historical descriptions of the rebellion, its suppression, and the political aftermath. Previous research centred on one stele, represented as evidence of worsening discrimination against Kyŏngsang province elites. This article considers the six stelae in relation to the wider political context of 1728–1837 and analyses consistencies in the text, political connections, location, and the target audience. The stelae reveal complex political struggles in post-rebellion Chosŏn, including a struggle for court recognition by loyalists in areas of rebel strength. Most significantly, the stelae reveal a struggle amongst the victors of the rebellion. The authors attempted to set the record straight over the loyalty of their officials – especially those who had been involved in some form of controversy during the Musin Rebellion – thereby proving their loyalty to Yŏngjo and their right to administer government. To show they were trustworthy court officials, moderate Disciple’s faction supporters were also distancing themselves from Disciple’s faction extremists that had led the Musin Rebellion

Reviews of Books

WANG ZHENPING. Ambassadors from the Islands of Immortals: China-Japan Relations in the Han-Tang Period. Honolulu: Association for Asian Studies and University of Hawaii Press, 2005. Pp. xiii, 387. $53.00 (US). Reviewed by Kent G. Deng PETER WHITFIELD. Cities of the World: A History in Maps. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2005. Pp. 208.$39.95 (US). Reviewed by Jeremy Black GIROLAMO ARNALDI. Italy and Its Invaders, trans. Antony Shugaar. Cambridge, MA and London: Harvard University Press, 2005. Pp. ix, 229. $19.95 (US). Reviewed by Antonio Santosuosso WILLARD SUNDERLAND. Taming the Wild Field: Colonization and Empire on the Russian Steppe. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 2004. Pp. xv, 239.$35.00 (US). Reviewed by Virginia Martin DAVID CROUGH. The Birth of Nobility: Constructing Aristocracy in England and France, 900-1300. London and New York: Pearson Longman, 2005. Pp. xiii, 361. £36.99, paper. Reviewed by Pauline Stafford ANGELO FORTE, RICHARD ORAM, and FREDERIK PEDERSEN. Viking Empires. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005. Pp. xiv, 447. $53.95 (US). Reviewed by Simon Maclean OLAV RISTE. Norway's Foreign Relations: A History, 2nd ed. Oslo: Universitetsforlaget, 2005. Pp. 306. €50.00. Reviewed by Patrick Salmon DANIEL POWER. The Norman Frontier in the Twelfth and Early Thirteenth Centuries. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2004. Pp. xxi, 634.$140.00 (US). Reviewed by Hugh M. Thomas FRANCES STONOR SAUNDERS. The Devil's Broker: Seeking Gold, God, and Glory in 14th Century Italy. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 2005. Pp. xviii, 366. $36.99 (CDN). Reviewed by Montgomery Bohna ISABEL DE MADARIAGA. Ivan the Terrible: First Tsar of Russia. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2005. Pp. xxi, 484.$35.00 (US). Reviewed by Charles J. Halperin JAMES MCDERMOTT. England and the Spanish Armada: The Necessary Quarrel. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2005. Pp. xvi, 411. $40.00 (US). Reviewed by David Potter ALEXANDER MURDOCH. British Emigration, 1603-1914. Basingstoke and New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004. Pp. xi, 176.$65.00 (US). Reviewed by Stephen Constantine JENNY HALE PULSIPHER. Subjects Unto the Same King: Indians, English, and the Contest for Authority in Colonial New England. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2005; dist. Toronto: Scholarly Book Services. Pp. 361. $57.75 (CDN). Reviewed by Trevor Burnard GWENDOLYN MIDLO HALL. Slavery and African Ethnicities in the Americas: Restoring the Links. Chapel Hill and London: University of North Carolina Press, 2005. Pp. xxi, 225.$34.95 (US). Reviewed by Kenneth Morgan STEPHEN CONWAY. War, State, and Society in Mid-Eighteenth-Century Britain and Ireland. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006. Pp. vi, 346. $165.00 (CDN). Reviewed by J.C.D. Clark MAYA JASANOFF. Edge of Empire: Lives, Culture, and Conquest in the East, 1750- 1850. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005. Pp. ix, 404.$27.95 (US). Reviewed by Dane Kennedy JONATHAN R. DULL. The French Navy and the Seven Years' War. Lincoln and London: University of Nebraska Press, 2005. Pp. xiii, 445. $35.00 (US). Reviewed by Ian K. Steele CRAIG L. SYMONDS. Decision at Sea: Five Naval Battles that Shaped American History. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005. Pp. xvii, 378.$39.95 (CDN). Reviewed by George Baer OLIVER MARSHALL. English, Irish, and Irish-American Pioneer Settlers in Nineteenth- Century Brazil. Oxford: Centre for Brazilian Studies, University of Oxford, 2005. Pp. xii, 323. £20.00, paper. Reviewed by Marshall C. Eakin RANDOLF G. S. COOPER. The Anglo-Maratha Campaigns and the Contest for India: The Struggle for Control of the South Asian Military Economy. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2004. Pp. xvii, 437. $85.00 (US). Reviewed by Edward Ingram ROBERT MILL WARD. Private and Public Enterprise in Europe: Energy, Telecommunications, and Transport, 1830-1990. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005. Pp. xix, 351.$90.00 (US). Reviewed by Nicholas Crafts TAN TAI YONG. The Garrison State: The Military, Government, and Society in Colonial Punjab, 1849-1947. New Delhi and Thousand Oaks: Sage, 2005. Pp. 333. $64.95 (US). Reviewed by Ian Talbot WINFRIED BAUMGART, ed. Englische Akten zur Geschichte des Krimkriegs. Ser. III: Band l: 20. November 1852 bis 10. Dezember 1853. Munich: R. Oldenbourg Verlag, 2005. Pp. 750. €148.00. Reviewed by Ann Pottinger Saab ALISON FLEIG FRANK. Oil Empire: Visions of Prosperity in Austrian Galicia. Cambridge, MA and London: Harvard University Press, 2005. Pp. xx, 343.$49.95 (US). Reviewed by Lothar Höbelt JOHN M. CARROLL. Edge of Empires: Chinese Elites and British Colonials in Hong Kong. Cambridge, MA and London: Harvard University Press, 2005. Pp. xii, 260. $39.95 (US). Reviewed by Catherine R. Schenk PAIGE RAIBMON. Authentic Indians: Episodes of Encounter from the Late-Nineteenth- Century Northwest Coast. Durham, NC and London: Duke University Press, 2005. Pp. xv, 307.$22.95 (US), paper. Reviewed by Olivia Patricia Dickason ELIZABETH BUETTNER. Empire Families: Britons and Late Imperial India.. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004. Pp. xii, 310. $75.00 (CDN). Reviewed by Nupur Chaudhuri JILL H. CASID. Sowing Empire: Landscape and Colonization. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2005. Pp. xxiii, 281.$24.95 (US), paper. Reviewed by John M. MacKenzie MIKE HUGGINS. The Victorians and Sport. London and New York: Hambledon and London, 2004; dist. Basingstoke and New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Pp. xi, 318. $29.95 (US). Reviewed by Tony Collins DAVID DILKS, with the assistance of Richard Dilks. 'The Great Dominion': Winston Churchill in Canada, 1900-1954. Toronto: Thomas Allen, 2005. Pp. xx, 472.$45.00 (CDN). Reviewed by John L. Gordon, Jr. STEFAN AUGUST LUTGENAU, ed. Paul Esterhdzy, 1901-1989: Ein Leben im Zeitalter der Extreme. Innsbruck: Studien Verlag, 2005. Pp. 196. €19.00. Reviewed by Günter Bischof MICHAEL DOORLEY. Irish-American Diaspora Nationalism: The Friends of Irish Freedom, 1916-1935. Dublin and Portland: Four Courts Press, 2005. Pp. 223. $55.00 (US). Reviewed by Andrew J. Wilson JOHN D. MEEHAN, SJ. The Dominion and the Rising Sun: Canada Encounters Japan, 1929-41. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 2004. Pp. xii, 250.$29.95 (CDN), paper. Reviewed by John Price ELIZABETH BORGWARDT. A New Deal for the World: America's Vision for Human Rights. Cambridge, MA and London: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2005. Pp. 437. 35.00 (US). Reviewed by Warren I. Cohen JUSTUS D. DOKNKCKE and MARK A. STOLER. Debating Franklin D. Roosevelt's Foreign Policies, 1933-1945. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2005. Pp. vi, 238. 65.00 (US), cloth; $19.95 (US), paper. Reviewed by Wiiliam R. Keylor HENRY ASHBY TURNER, JR. General Motors and the Nazis: The Struggle for Control of Opel, Europe's Biggest Carmaker. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2005. Pp. viii, 200.$38.00 (US). Reviewed by Andrew J. Crozier RICHARD BREITMAN, NORMAN J. W. GODA, TIMOTHY NAFTALI, and ROBERT WOLFE. US Intelligence and the Nazis. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005. Pp. 495. $24.99 (US), paper. Reviewed by Thomas G. Mahnken WENDY LOWER. Nazi Empire-Building and the Holocaust in Ukraine. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2005. Pp. xviii, 307.$49.95 (US). Reviewed by John-Paul Himka DOUGLAS E. DELANEY. The Soldiers' General: Bert Hoffmeister at War. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 2005. Pp. xvi, 299. $29.95 (CDN), paper. Reviewed by Tim Cook OTIS HAYS, JR. Alaska's Hidden Wars: Secret Campaigns on the North Pacific Rim. Fairbanks: University of Alaska Press, 2004. Pp. xvii, 182.$19.95 (US), paper. Reviewed by Terrence Cole ARIEH J. KOCHAVI. Confronting Captivity: Britain and the United States and Their POWs in Nazi Germany. Chapel Hill and London: University of North Carolina Press, 2005; dist. Toronto: Scholarly Book Services. Pp. x, 382. $69.75 (US). Reviewed by S. P. MacKenzie TSUYOSHI HASEGAWA. Racing the Enemy: Stalin, Truman, and the Surrender of Japan. Cambridge, MA and London: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2005. Pp. ix, 382.$29.95 (US). Reviewed by Akira Iriye DAVID MONOD. Settling Scores: German Music, Denazification, and the Americans, 1945-1953. Chapel Hill and London: University of North Carolina Press, 2005; dist. Toronto: Scholarly Book Services. Pp. xiv, 325. $69.75 (CDN). Reviewed by Carol S. Gruber ALLAN R. MILLETT. The War for Korea, 1945-1950: A House Burning. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2005. Pp. xviii, 348.$39.95 (US). Reviewed by Steve I. Levine AMY KNIGHT. How the Cold War Began: The Gouzenko Affair and the Hunt for Soviet Spies. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 2005. Pp. ix, 358. $36.99 (CDN). Reviewed by Nector Mackenzie MICHAEL L. KRKNN. Fall-Out Shelters for the Human Spirit: American Art and the Cold War. Chapel Hill and London: University of North Carolina Press, 2005; dist. Toronto: Scholarly Book Services. Pp. xii, 300.$58.00 (CDN). Reviewed by Anders Stephanson KENNETH P. WERRELL. Sabres over MiG Alley: The F-86 and the Battle for Air Superiority in Korea. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2005. Pp. x, 318. $29.95 (US). Reviewed by James I. Matray BALÁZS SZALONTAI. Kim Il Sung in the Khrushchev Era: Soviet-DPRK Relations and the Roots of North Korean Despotism, 1953-1964. Stanford: Stanford University- Press, 2006. Pp. xxiii, 343.$60.00 (US). Reviewed by Andrei Lankov CHRISTOPHER A. PREBLE. John F. Kennedy and the Missile Gap. DeKalb: Northern Illinois University Press, 2004. Pp. xi, 244. $32.00 (US). Reviewed by Campbell Craig MOREEN DEE, ed. Documents on Australian Foreign Policy: Australia and the Formation of Malaysia, 1961-1966. Canberra: Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, 2005; dist. Melbourne: Melbourne Publishing Group. Pp. xlvi, 651.$49.95 (AUS), paper. Reviewed by Nicholas Tarling GARETH PORTER. Perils of Dominance: Imbalance of Power and the Road to War in Vietnam. Berkeley