Preface and Acknowledgements = vii Note on Transliteration = xv Abbreviations = xvii Chapters 1. North Korea in 1945-8: the Soviet Occupation and the Birth of the State = 1 2. Kim Il Sung: an Attempt at a Biography = 49 3. The factions in the North Korean Leadership in the 1940s and 1950s = 77 4. The Emergence of the Soviet Faction in North Korea, 1945-55 = 110 5. H˘o Ka-I: a Forgotten Founding Father of the KWP = 136 6. The August Challenge = 154 Arterword = 194 Index = 199.