An important part of North Korean literature, With the Century is held as an intriguing if unreliable insight into the nation's modern history under late colonial Korea.

Until the 1960s, Kim Il Sung had encouraged his fellow revolutionaries to publish their memoirs, and generals such as Eulji Mundeok, Kang Kam-ch'an and Yi Sun-sin were featured in North Korean history books.

[7] Initially the memoirs were supposed to span 90 chapters in 30 volumes comprising five parts: "The Anti-Japanese Revolution", "People's Country", "Along the Road of Socialism", "The Nation's Desire", and "Turning Point of Century".

[9] The anti-foreign pro-independence Donghak Movement, founded by a Korean scholar Choe Je-u and influenced by Catholic missionaries, is one of the fascinations of his youth that Kim Il Sung treats at length in the memoirs.

Sang Wol introduced Kim Il Sung to the classics of Chinese, and Russian literature such as Maxim Gorky's Mother and Enemies.

[9] The memoirs reveal the impact of Kim Il Sung's knowledge of religion and scholarship of literary classics and art on the theory of Juche.

Despite the various early religious influences, Kim Il Sung frowned upon the practice of religion, and instead demanded near-religious loyalty and adherence to the militaristic rules that are part of living in North Korea.

[28] Defector and former propagandist, Jang Jin-sung recalls in his book Dear Leader: My Escape from North Korea how when he wants to impress a fellow escapee, he brags that his friend's "grandparents are mentioned in our textbooks as leading anti-Japanese resistance fighters, as well as in Kim Il Sung's own memoir, With the Century.

"[31] According to Hwang Jang-yop, a high-ranking North Korean defector, the book's contents were as if they were straight out of revolutionary movies making it a very pleasant read.

[35][36] On 23 April 2021, Kyobo Book Center, South Korea's biggest bookstore chain, decided to cease sales of the memoirs, in order to "protect customers".

[37] Several conservative organizations, such as New Paradigm of Korea, sought an injunction to ban the sales of With the Century, because "distribution of the memoirs 'glamorizing the Kim family' infringes on human rights and harms the dignity of South Koreans as well as the country's democracy."

[38] On 26 May 2021, South Korea police raided the office of the publisher Minjok Sarangbang, confiscated materials as evidence, as the publication of the memoirs allegedly violated the National Security Act.

According to Fyodor Tertitskiy, With the Century compromises accuracy and molds events to support the view point of North Korean ideology.

[30] According to Jang Jin-sung, the authors were novelists of the April 15 Literary Production Group, a "First class" institution reserved to serve the Kim family[31] (Jang also claimed that in 1993, Kim allegedly told a group of Chongryon members how much he enjoyed reading With the Century),[45] while Hwang attributes the writing to the staff of the Party History Center.

Hwang also opposed rewriting post-liberation history because later events would be easier to verify, and historical revisionism could anger North Korea's diplomatic allies.