Shen Zhihua (simplified Chinese: 沈志华; traditional Chinese: 沈志華; (this is a Chinese name; the family name is Shen.) is a professor of history at East China Normal University and adjunct professor at Peking University and Renmin University of China. Shen is an expert in the history of the Soviet Union, Sino-Soviet relations, and the Cold War. He is director of the Center for Oriental History Studies of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and honorary researcher at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. In 2011 Shen was public policy scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C.
An interesting read. I'm told that the primary author is a pro-western shill and wants China to pursue a policy that is anti-DPRK, so take that with a grain of salt.
The book contains information from Soviet as well as Chinese archives, so I appreciated the content for the factual information contained in it, especially as so much about the DPRK is shrouded in secrecy. It helped clear up the dynamic between the two countries during the early part of their journey, and how it wasn't always sunshine and rainbows, for various reasons both in and out of their control.
As the Sino-Soviet split damaged the communist movement significantly, it's interesting to see how Kim managed his alliances with both the USSR and China, as it reminded me of the period of Korea before the Japan annexation, how the officials pursued a similar strategy with competing western powers attempting to carve up Korea for their influence.
I'm docking it a star because it doesn't totally promise what it claims to in the title, not much about Kim and Mao's actual relationship is discussed, moreso their political dealings and what they said about each other publicly. But maybe that information isn't something that will ever come to light, unless Korea is finally free from American influence.