The review reads more like a press release by the publisher. There is absolutely no attempt at balance, the reviewer seems completely unaware of any countervailing or contrary opinions, except to dismiss them, even the distinctly liberal David Halberstam’s.
No serious historian would make any of generalizations and conclusions that Professor Cumings toss off so casually.
Perhaps Professor Cumings and the progressives are preparing us for a Kim style regime rather than a Stalinist society?