# The Rebel and the Kingdom: The True Story of the Secret Mission to Overthrow the North Korean Regime - Hardcover

by **Bradley Hope** (Author)

**How did an Ivy League activist become a global fugitive? The _New York Times_ bestselling co-author of _Billion Dollar Whale_ and _Blood and Oil_ chronicles the heart-pounding tale of a self-taught operative his high-stakes attempt subvert the North Korean regime.**  
  
**"Propulsive . . . Hope's account is both deeply reported and novelistic."--Ed Caesar, contributing staff writer for _The New Yorker,_ author of _The Moth and the Mountain_**

In the early 2000s, Adrian Hong was a soft-spoken Yale undergraduate looking for his place in the world. After reading a harrowing account of life inside North Korea, he realized he had found a cause so pressing that he was ready to devote his life to it.

What began as a trip down the safe and well-worn path of organizing soon morphed into something more dangerous. Hong journeyed to China, outwitting Chinese security services as he helped asylum-seeking North Koreans escape across the border. Meanwhile, Hong's secret organization, Cheollima Civil Defense (later renamed Free Joseon), began tracking the North Korean government's activities, and its volatile third-generation ruler, Kim Jong-un. Free Joseon targeted North Korean diplomats who might be persuaded to defect, while drawing up plans for a government-in-exile. After the shocking broad-daylight assassination in 2017 of Kim Jong-nam, the dictator's older brother, Hong, along with U.S. Marine veteran Christopher Ahn, helped ferry Kim Jong-nam's family to safety. Then Hong took the group a step further. He initiated a series of high-stakes direct actions, culminating in an armed raid at the North Korean embassy in Madrid--an act that would put Ahn behind bars and turn Hong into one of the world's most unlikely fugitives.

In the tradition of Jon Krakauer's _Into the Wild, The Rebel and the Kingdom_ is an exhilarating account of a man who turns his back on the status quo--to instead live boldly by his principles. Acclaimed journalist and bestselling author Bradley Hope--who broke numerous details of Hong's operations in _The Wall Street Journal--_now reveals the full contours of this remarkable story of idealism and insanity, hubris and heroism, all set within the secret battle for the future of the world's most mysterious and unsettling nation.

### Author Biography

**Bradley Hope,** based in London, is the _New York Times_ bestselling co-author of _Billion Dollar Whale_ and _Blood and Oil_. He is a Pulitzer Prize finalist and Gerald Loeb Award winner. Formerly a reporter for _The Wall Street Journal_ and a correspondent in the Middle East, Hope is co-founder of Project Brazen, a journalism studio and production company.

**Number of Pages:** 272

**Dimensions:** 1 x 9.3 x 6.1 IN

**Illustrated:** Yes

**Publication Date:** November 01, 2022

## Details

- **Price:** 29.0 USD
- **Vendor:** Books by splitShops
- **Type:** Books
- **Tags:** Books by splitShops, Shopify Collective

## Variants

| Variant | Price | Available |
|---------|-------|-----------|
| Default Title | 29.00 USD | In stock |

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- The Rebel and the Kingdom: The True Story of the Secret Mission to Overthrow the North Korean Regime - Hardcover

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