From one of the world�s 20 largest economies in 1975 to an estimated two million dead from famine two decades later, how did North Korea manage to mismanage its economy so spectacularly and arrive at its current disaster? Paul French, the author of North Korea The Paranoid Peninsula � A Modern History (Zed Books, London, 2005), will detail the rise, fall and dynamics of North Korea�s economy and the likelihood of future change. His presentation will also include some rare photos of North Korea. French was a founder of Access Asia, a Shanghai based company which specializes in providing clients with market research and economic analysis on the Greater China region and North Korea. He was the co-author of the book One Billion Shoppers: Accessing Asia�s Consuming Passions, and is based in Shanghai. His next book � A Tough Old China Hand � a biography of the life and times of Carl Crow a journalist, author and advertising man who lived in Shanghai between the wars is to be published by Hong Kong University Press in 2006.