Kindle
$16.99
Available instantly
Audible Logo Audiobook
$0.00
with membership trial
Hardcover
$10.22
Paperback
$21.73
Buy used: $10.22
$3.99 delivery May 6 - 10. Details
Or fastest delivery May 2 - 7. Details
Used: Very Good | Details
Sold by midtownscholarbookstore
Condition: Used: Very Good
Comment: HARDCOVER Very Good - Crisp, clean, unread book with some shelfwear/edgewear, may have a remainder mark - NICE Standard-sized.
Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.
Amazon book clubs early access
Loading your book clubs
There was a problem loading your book clubs. Please try again.
Not in a club? Learn more
Amazon book clubs early access

Join or create book clubs

Choose books together

Track your books
Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free.
Explore Amazon Book Clubs
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Follow the author

Ray Takeyh
Follow
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

The Last Shah: America, Iran, and the Fall of the Pahlavi Dynasty (Council on Foreign Relations Books) Hardcover – January 26, 2021

by Ray Takeyh (Author)
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 113 ratings
See all formats and editions
Great on Kindle
Great Experience. Great Value.
iphone with kindle app
Putting our best book forward
Each Great on Kindle book offers a great reading experience, at a better value than print to keep your wallet happy.

Explore your book, then jump right back to where you left off with Page Flip.

View high quality images that let you zoom in to take a closer look.

Enjoy features only possible in digital – start reading right away, carry your library with you, adjust the font, create shareable notes and highlights, and more.

Discover additional details about the events, people, and places in your book, with Wikipedia integration.
Get the free Kindle app: Link to the kindle app page Link to the kindle app page
Enjoy a great reading experience when you buy the Kindle edition of this book. Learn more about Great on Kindle, available in select categories.
View Kindle Edition
The surprising story of Iran’s transformation from America’s ally in the Middle East into one of its staunchest adversaries

"An original interpretation that puts Iranian actors where they belong: at center stage."—Michael Doran, Wall Street Journal

“An extraordinary account. . . . Deeply nuanced and eloquent.”—Benjamin Weinthal, Jerusalem Post 

Offering a new view of one of America’s most important, infamously strained, and widely misunderstood relationships of the postwar era, this book tells the history of America and Iran from the time the last shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, was placed on the throne in 1941 to the 1979 revolution that brought the present Islamist government to power. This revolution was not, as many believe, the popular overthrow of a powerful and ruthless puppet of the United States; rather, it followed decades of corrosion of Iran’s political establishment by an autocratic ruler who demanded fealty but lacked the personal strength to make hard decisions and, ultimately, lost the support of every sector of Iranian society. Esteemed Middle East scholar Ray Takeyh provides new interpretations of many key events—including the 1953 coup against Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadeq and the rise of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini—significantly revising our understanding of America and Iran’s complex and difficult history.
Previous page
  1. Part of series
    Council on Foreign Relations Books
  2. Print length
    336 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publisher
    Yale University Press
  5. Publication date
    January 26, 2021
  6. Dimensions
    6.13 x 1.13 x 9.25 inches
  7. ISBN-10
    030021779X
  8. ISBN-13
    978-0300217797
  9. See all details
Next page
Books with Buzz
Books with Buzz
Discover the latest buzz-worthy books, from mysteries and romance to humor and nonfiction. Explore more

Editorial Reviews

Review

"An original interpretation that puts Iranian actors where they belong: at center stage."—Michael Doran, Wall Street Journal

“An extraordinary account...Takeyh delivers a deeply nuanced and eloquent history of the shah.”—Benjamin Weinthal, Jerusalem Post 

“A timely offering...The narrative that emerges is woven together using a wealth of primary and secondary sources.”—Kevjn Lim, Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs

“A sober, fair-minded assessment, enabled by perspectives afforded by both the passage of time and increasingly accessible archives.”—Lisa Anderson, Foreign Affairs

"An enlightening new history."—Clifford D. May, Washington Times

“Thoroughly documented and well-written.”— Aram Bakshian Jr., Washington Times

"[Takeyh] exposes how the shah’s misguided leadership isolated him from Iranian society, created resentment among the masses, and made him a prime target to be overthrown. . . . A fascinating account."—Michael Taube, Washington Examiner

“This is narrative history at its clearest and its best."—David Pryce-Jones, National Review

“Takeyh’s narrative skill, eye for detail, sense of character, and judicious presentation of controversial events make his account as compulsively readable as a novel. . . . A superb contribution to our understanding."—Joshua Muravchik, Commentary

"For 2,500 years before assaults on embassies, American hostages, proxy wars, and nuclear deals, there was monarchy in Iran. That history ended in the nearly 40-year struggle for the survival of the crown, expertly chronicled by the Council on Foreign Relations’ Ray Takeyh in his new book. . . . Takeyh’s great value is his combination of a comprehensive knowledge of the minutiae of Iranian history with clear analyses of the great debates regarding a nation that has bedeviled foreign-policy experts for decades."—Wilson Shirley, RealClearBooks.com



“Takeyh’s book avoids [a] simplistic reading of history.”—Shay Khatiri, 1945

“Takeyh is not interested in merely describing . . . the wide array of forces that toppled the Pahlavi dynasty, but he also bears his judgment on the omnipresent corruption, negligence, diffidence, and autocratic tendencies that overwhelmed the Pahlavi state over time. . . . Takeyh's vivid and parsimonious account makes clear how—like a tsunami overtaking a coastal city, unannounced—suddenly years, decades, and even centuries of human planning and construction just disappeared under the new terrain.”—Hussein Banai, Middle East Journal 
 

“A careful perusal of the reign and times of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, with a fresh assessment that is not driven by the received wisdom within the U.S. foreign policy community.”—Nicholas Gvosdev, Orbis


"Books on twentieth century Iran abound, but none deliver the substance or the insight that Ray Takeyh does. For the clearest view of Iran for the last 100 years, this book is it."—Marvin Zonis, author of Majestic Failure: The Fall of the Shah

“Ray Takeyh’s astute and provocative study of the last Shah of Iran sheds new light on the Cold-War foreign policy of the United States, the impact of individual personalities on the course of history, and the causes of the Iranian Revolution of 1979, with which the world has now had to live for more than four decades.”—Michael Mandelbaum, author of The Rise and Fall of Peace on Earth

“Ray Takeyh has compellingly written the prequel to the Islamic Republic of Iran’s forty-year confrontation with the United States.  He tells this fascinating story with unmatched perspicacity and insight all while restoring the agency of Iranian participants in this frequently tragic tale.  Anyone who wants to understand the current impasse with Iran will have to come to grips with the arguments he makes and the issues he illuminates.”—Eric Edelman, former U.S. Ambassador to Turkey and Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, 2005-2009

“In The Last Shah Takeyh sets the record straight on the history of US-Iran relations.”—Hussain Abdul-Hussain

About the Author

Ray Takeyh is the Hasib J. Sabbagh Senior Fellow for Middle East studies at the Council on Foreign Relations and a former State Department official. He lives in Washington, DC.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Yale University Press (January 26, 2021)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 336 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 030021779X
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0300217797
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.5 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.13 x 1.13 x 9.25 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 113 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Ray Takeyh

Ray Takeyh

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
113 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

ALBERTO NAVARRO
5.0 out of 5 stars EL ÚLTIMO SHAH.
Reviewed in the United States on December 29, 2023
Verified Purchase
EL ÚLTIMO SHAH DE IRÁN.:

RECOMIENDO AMPLIAMENTE ESTE LIBRO.
ES UNA BIOGRAFÍA DE MOHAMMED REZA PAHLAVI EL ÚLTIMO SHAH DE IRÁN ( 1941-1979).
EL LIBRO EMPIEZA EN 1941 CUANDO MOHAMMED REZA SHAH EL PADRE DE EL
REZA PAHLAVI ES DEPUESTO POR UNA ACCIÓN
COMBINADA DE LA URSS Y GRAN BRETAÑA,
REZA SHAH LLEGÓ AL PODER EN 1925 Y TRATÓ
DE EMULAR Y OCCIDENTALIZAR A IRÁN COMO
LO HIZO KEMAL ATTATURK EN TURQUIA, EN
EL PROCESO DESCONOCIÓ EL ARRAIGO QUE
EL ISLAM HA TENIDO EN LA NACIÓN PERSA,
HAY QUE TENER EN CUENTA QUE EL SHIISMO
SE CONVIRTIÓ EN LA RELIGIÓN OFICIAL DE PERSIA A PARTIR DE PRINCIPIOS DEL SIGLO
16 ; REZA SHAH ESTABLECIO BUENAS RELACIONES CON LA ALEMANIA NAZI NO
PORQUE SINTIESE SIMPATÍA HACIA EL RÉGIMEN
SINO PARA MANTENER UNA POLÍTICA INDEPENDIENTE DE LA GRAN BRETAÑA Y
DE LA URSS, CUANDO EMPEZÒ LA GUERRA
IRÁN SE DECLARÓ NEUTRAL, NO HABIA NINGÚN
PACTO MILITAR CON ALEMANIA, SIN EMBARGO
LA URSS Y EL REINO UNIDO DECIDIERON VIOLAR
LA NEUTRALIDAD DE IRÁN Y EN 1941 LA INVADIERON, LA URSS SE QUEDÓ CON EL
NORTE Y GRAN BRETAÑA CON EL SUR, FUE
UN ACTO VIL E INFAME NADA DISTINTO AL
PACTO MOLOTOV- RIBBENTROP DONDE ALEMANIA Y LA URSS SE REPARTIERON A POLONIA, LA DIFERENCIA ES QUE EL ÚLTIMO
ES MUY CONOCIDO EN OCCIDENTE, MIENTRAS
QUE EL PRIMERO HA SIDO OCULTADO E IGNORADO ; EL LIBRO NO LO MENCIONA, PERO
LA OCUPACIÓN ALIADA ( MAS ADELANTE SE
SUMARIA USA), ADEMÁS DE SER HUMILLANTE
PROVOCO DELIBERADAMENTE UNA HAMBRUNA
QUE DEJÓ TRES MILLONES DE FALLECIDOS.
AL COMIENZO DE LA GUERRA FRIA, LA URSS
A TRAVES DE SUS TÍTERES INTENTÓ ESTABLECER UNA REPÚBLICA SOVIÉTICA
EN LA PARTE NORTE ( AZERBAIJAN) SIN EMBARGO NO PUDO PORQUE LA MAYORIA
SE OPUSO Y CONTÓ CON EL RESPALDO DE
USA.
EN 1951 LLEGÓ AL PODER EL LÍDER NACIONALISTA MOHAMMED MOSSADEGH Y
SU PARTIDO EL CENTRISTA FRENTE NACIONAL,
LA REALIDAD ES QUE EL ERA ANTICOMUNISTA Y
ANTISOVIÉTICO PERO AL MISMO TIEMPO BUSCABA UNA POSTURA INDEPENDIENTE DE
LAS POTENCIAS OCCIDENTALES, DURANTE
DÉCADAS EL PETRÓLEO IRANI ERA CONTROLADO POR LOS BRITÁNICOS EN
CONDICIONES MUY DESFAVORABLES A LA
NACIÓN PERSA, AL IGUAL QUE EN TODAS
PARTES LOS BRITÁNICOS ESQUILMARON Y
SAQUEARON A IRÁN, MOSSADEGH DECIDIÓ
NACIONALIZAR EL PETRÓLEO, LOS BRITÁNICOS
RESPONDIERON CON BLOQUEOS Y SANCIONES
ECONÓMICAS, LA SITUACIÓN DEL PAIS EMPEZÓ
A DETERIORARSE Y POR SUPUESTO EL PARTIDO
COMUNISTA O TUDEH,SERVIL A LOS INTERESES
DEL IMPERIALISMO SOVIÉTICO, EMPEZÓ A HACER SU LABOR DE ZAPA, LO CUAL ALARMÓ
A UN AMPLIO SECTOR DE LA SOCIEDAD IRANÍ
Y DE LAS POTENCIAS OCCIDENTALES.
EN 1953 SE PRODUCE EL GOLPE DONDE
SE RESTAURA AL SHAH, EL AUTOR DICE
QUE FUE UN ASUNTO INTERNO Y QUE LA
CIA NADA TUVO QUE VER, ESTOY DE ACUERDO
CON ESA OPINIÓN, SOBRETODO SI SE TIENE
EN CUENTA QUE LA IZQUIERDA HA EXAGERADO
EL PAPEL DE LA CIA PARA JUSTIFICAR SUS
FRACASOS.
EL GOBIERNO DEL SHAH TUVO LUCES Y
SOMBRAS, EL PAIS SE INDUSTRIALIZÓ,
SE CREARON ESCUELAS, HOSPITALES
Y VIAS DE COMUNICACIÓN, TAMBIÉN SE
PERMITIERON MAS LIBERTADES A LAS MUJERES.
SIN EMBARGO CON EL TRANSCURRIR DEL
TIEMPO EL RÉGIMEN SE FUE HACIENDO
DEMASIADO REPRESIVO SOBRETODO CON
LA TEMIDA POLICIA SECRETA O SAVAK,
AL MISMO TIEMPO SE CREO UNA NUEVA
CLASE MUY OCCIDENTALIZADA Y COMPLETAMENTE DIVORCIADA DE LA
GRAN MAYORIA DE LA SOCIEDAD, UNA CLASE
TRASCULTURIZADA QUE DESPRECIABA LA
CULTURA PERSA Y ALABABA EL CONSUMISMO
Y MATERIALISMO OCCIDENTAL.
LA RELACIÓN CON USA FUE MUY TÓXICA,
UN IRRESPETO TOTAL HACIA LA NACIÓN PERSA
COMO LO FUE EL HUMILLANTE TRATADO DE EXTRATERRITORIALIDAD EN 1963.
LA TAPA QUE PUSO AL POMO FUE LA FIESTA
DE PERSÉPOLIS CONMEMORANDO LOS 2500
AÑOS DEL IMPERIO PERSA, FUE UN VERDADERO
INSULTO A LA DECENCIA, UNA DEMOSTRACIÒN
DE LUJURIA Y RIQUEZA MIENTRAS QUE LA
GRAN MAYORIA PASABA TODO TIPO DE NECESIDADES.
FINALMENTE EL SHAH FUE DERROCADO EN
ENERO DE 1979 Y EL AYATOLLAH KHOMEINI
TOMÓ EL MANDO.
EL REGIMEN DE LOS AYATOLLAHS AL IGUAL
QUE EL SHAH HA TENIDO SUS LUCES Y SOMBRAS.
IRÁN CON LOS AYATOLLAHS HA MANTENIDO
UNA POLÍTICA INDEPENDIENTE DE LOS BLOQUES
DE PODER, ESO LO APLAUDO ; SIN EMBARGO
HA HABIDO MUCHOS ABUSOS DE PODER,AL
PRINCIPIO DE LA REVOLUCIÓN HUBO CIENTOS
DE EJECUCIONES Y MILES DE PRESOS POLÍTICOS, LA GUERRA CON IRAK QUE COBRÓ
MUCHAS VÍCTIMAS Y TAMBIÉN EN EL PLANO
ECONÓMICO HA SIDO BASTANTE NEGATIVO.
DURANTE LA DÉCADA DE LOS NOVENTA, LOS
GOBIERNOS REFORMISTAS DE HASHEMI RAFSANJANI Y MOHAMMED KHATAMI
BUSCARON MEJORAR LAS RELACIONES CON
USA Y EVENTUALMENTE PODRIAN REESTABLECERSE DE NUEVO, PERO NO FUE
ASI, EL GOBIERNO DE GEORGE
W BUSH DOMINADO POR LOS NEOCONSERVADORES, UN ELEMENTO
MEGATÓXICO, DECIDIÓ HOSTILIZAR A LA
NACIÓN PERSA CON SU VOCABULARIO LLENO
DE INVECTIVA ( EL EJE DEL MAL), QUE PROVOCÓ
UNA REACCIÓN DE TOTAL ENEMISTAD DE PARTE
DE IRÁN A ESTO HAN SEGUIDO SANCIONES
ECONÓMICAS Y HASTA AMENAZAS DE INTERVENCIÓN, HASTA NUESTROS DIAS.
MIENTRAS QUE LOS NEOCONSERVADORES
CONTINUEN DOMINANDO LA POLÍTICA EXTERIOR
DE USA NO HAY NI VÁ A HABER NINGUNA
POSIBILIDAD DE ARREGLO.
MIENTRAS TANTO CHINA LOGRÓ QUE IRÁN
Y ARABIA SAUDITA REANUDARAN SUS RELACIONES DIPLOMÁTICAS, ESO HAY QUE
APLAUDIRLO.
Helpful
 Report
Nariman
4.0 out of 5 stars Thoroughly researched and unbiased assessment of the late Shah's reign
Reviewed in the United States on February 15, 2021
Verified Purchase
Professor Takeyh has written a concise history of Iran under the late Mohammad-Reza Shah's rule, and its relations with the United States.
The author has extensive background in the contemporary history of Iran, and has used many resources for his book including American, Russian, British and refreshingly, Iranian references for his research.

As an Iranian myself with keen interest in history in general and the history of Iran in particular, I found this book to be an interesting read on the life and the times of the Shah. As we say in Persian, "a victor has a thousand parents, while a loser is always an orphan." . Unfortunately after the Shah lost his throne in the aftermath of Islamic revolution, many historians resorted to use the vicious propaganda of his opponents before 1979 and also the conquerors of his palace after 1979 have been diffusing, drawing a caricature of him as nothing but a "bloodthirsty U.S. puppet", who was installed by a C.I.A. coup, sponsored by the British to wrongfully overthrow the "democratically elected patriot", Mohammad Mossaddegh...In recent times the reality is appearing to be something very different from the "conventional wisdom", and this book helps to light this dark corner of the history with objective skepticism : Using the many references at his disposal , Takeyh depicts a monarch that at the beginning watched the great powers, the British empire, the U.S. and the Soviet Union attack his country, depose his father while attempting to install a prince of the former ruling dynasty , who was not even capable of speaking Persian, let alone having spent time inside Iran. This made the young king very skeptical of the western powers and the Iranian aristocracy who still disdained the newly established Pahlavi dynasty for deposing the Qajar monarchs.
The mindset of the king was therefore set to become a decisive element in the tumultuous years of the second world war and its aftermath, in which Iran was under Soviet occupation and at one time under threat of puppet regimes set by Stalin to carve out Iran for his gains. Takeyh impressively covers this critical epoch of Iranian history.

The next chapter in Iranian history was the controversial oil nationalization movement, which I think is the magnum opus of this research provided by Takeyh, and refreshingly so : As I mentioned unfortunately many historians with staunch sympathies towards Mossaddegh have written many books sanitizing his disastrous rule,and pointing fingers at the Shah, the C.I.A. and the British for his demise. Takeyh, as he has done in an impressive article published years back, questions this very myth with ample references. He shows how unyielding Mossaddegh were to the overtures from both the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. to resolve the oil crisis, alienating both Eisenhower and Molotov from himself at the time that he needed an international orchestration to handle such a grave crisis, then at the time the sanctions became exasperating, he alienated the members of his own party, including Mozaffer Bagha'i and Ayatollah Kashani, and even unconstitutionally forced the Shah to forego his prerogative of being the head of the armed forces and make him the commander of chief, to which the Shah agreed without protest.
His most bizarre attack on the Iranian democracy came in the fateful summer of 1953, when the disillusioned parliament fell at odds with him, making Mossaddegh trump the constitution by absolving the parliament. To make his move look legally bounding, he resorted to a referendum which was done in very questionable circumstances. Interestingly, as Takeyh mentions in this book, the Shah until this episode was very reluctant to take any stance against the authoritarian prime minister who was growing despotic day by day especially after his chief of police was found dead, with martial law declared and the opponents of Mossaddegh arrested and tortured.
An important note here is that even Mossaddegh's erudite interior minister, the prominent Iranian sociologist Professor Gholam-Hossein Seddighi (sometimes spelled Sadighi in some western references) begged him not to proceed with the referendum, as according to the constitution in the absence of the parliament the king had the right to appoint a new prime minister, only to be yelled at by Mossaddegh shouting " No one dares to touch me now including that boy ! " . this shocking interaction between the renegade prime minister and his educated cabinet member is rarely, if at all, mentioned in the pro-Mossaddegh histories. Takeyh, on the other hand brings this to the reader's attention, showing that how despotic -and alienated from reality- had Mossaddegh become, to the point that he had no allies left, including the very own people who once cheered his first cabinet.
After the Shah issued the decree asking the prime minister to step down, Mossaddegh decided to arrest the royal courier who brought the kings' decree. This prompted the Shah to think that coup was in effect against him and he escaped to neighboring Iraq immediately. In the aftermath, the Americans were caught completely off-guard the army who they were pushing to act in case Mossaddegh's became rebellious, remained inactive and observant. This made American think that the much aspired coup was failed miserably. The fact was army was already getting prepared to act against Mossaddegh weeks before, but now the needed a pretext and a legal one for that matter to move against him . This was what Americans actually did : The next day the Shah left, they showed that in contrary to Mossaddegh's claim, Shah had indeed asked him to step down , and the prime minister had kept the news hidden from the public. This is thoroughly covered in this book and is a must-read for anyone interested in the events of the summer of 1953, which demonstrates that contrary to the urban legend, the Iranians were already fed up with Mossaddegh and did not need one Kermit Roosevelt to suddenly show up in Tehran and spend 60 thousand dollars only to turn the entire army against a "very popular" prime minister.

In the next chapters, the author elaborates on how the Shah became autocratic year by year, ensured that no prime minister is worthy of his trust, no foreign power worthy of a deep friendship. Takeyh very astutely shows how Shah grow more independent and more asserting as years went by especially with respect to Americans, and contrary to the "conventional wisdom" of being an American puppet, at the times falling at odds with many U.S. administrations to move forward his ambitious plans to modernize Iran.

Indeed as Takeyh mentions his modernization endeavors were a historic success,albeit with shockingly inauspicious consequences : The king eradicated feudalism once and for all, and gave the women and the religious minorities of Iran voting rights. This all angered a cleric by the name of Ayatollah Khomeini, who started to call for the king to be deposed . although his rebellion lasted only a day back in June of 1963, when Khomeini resurfaced in November 1977 after years of being silent in exile, to Shah's astonishment the recently established and burgeoning middle class of Iran, whose very initiation and existence was indebted to his brilliant modernizing policies, decided to take side with the anachronistic cleric.
The end result of the revolution, as Takeyh puts it, was a so-called "republic of virtue", in which the Shah's generals who were given amnesty before their ill-fated announcement of "army neutrality" , were put in front of firing squads within days if not hours of the triumph of the revolution. In the months after Khomeini successfully spear headed an " Islamic republic" in another shady referendum , which dismayed his nationalist and communist revolutionary allies, and after the discussion about an Islamic constitution started to become problematic for him, he ordered all the opposing newspapers to be closed in the summer of 1979 and when the dying Shah visited New York to seek treatment for his cancer in October, Khomeini found the perfect excuse to outmaneuver his communist opponents, and showcase himself as the "ultimate anti-American" figure in the total mess of Iranian post-revolutionary politics. All this is charmingly detailed in Professor Takeyh's outstanding book.

The only reason I gave this book 4 stars instead of 5, is that in my opinion the book could have detailed the revolutionary period more deeply. Its section seems too brief to me, and some key players are not mentioned, such as Dr. Seddighi, Mossaddegh's interior minister who agreed to become Shah's prime minister in December 1978, only to be despicably shunned and estranged by his fellow members in the National Front.
Another reason for me not giving 5 stars is more of a personal, political opinion : In one point Takeyh mentions that the Shah "had contempt" for his people. I find this statement far from truth and unfair. In contrary I think Shah was overconfident about the love Iranians had for him, that when he saw millions chanting death to the Shah in the streets of Tehran in that fateful fall of 1978, he was taken by total surprise and dismay.

At the end the tragedy of Mossaddegh, the Shah, and Iran in general is that the aforementioned men were both titans of Iranian politics and genuine progressives who strove to bring free education and healthcare, and emancipation of women and minorities to a backward country ravaged by decades and centuries of mismanagement. Still both men at the end of their rule became so autocratic and alienated from every element in the Iranian society that the pinnacle of their success became the beginning of their end.

To quote Professor Morteza Mardiha, the Iranian professor of political sociology : " [The Shah's] cynicism was nothing either unusual or unexpected : Imagine that you [the Pahlavis] receive Iran from the Qajars full of "Pehen"(Manure) and hand it over to the next regime (Islamic republic) full of "Paykan" (Iran's national automobile). To receive a populace infested by typhus and leprosy and scabies, provide them with sanitized water,sewage, bathrooms, and public hospitals and clinics , and yet witness the so-called "intellectuals" instead of praising the miracle that was happening, start drawing the picture of a bloodsucking vampire out of you ! Then you will definitely believe that no one but god itself was capable of this power to spin the truth so tremendously against you. I remember in one of the public gatherings of the Students Following the Path of Imam, it was mentioned that "the U.S. supported a regime that killed children in the arms of their mothers for decades !" And no one dared to question how that was even possible ? where was the evidence ? No one asked that , instead every person chanted to the top of their lungs "It's true ! It's true!" ... Of course in such a climate Shah had every reason to believe that there must some nefarious entity in action against him beside the common stupidity of the masses" .
17 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report

Top reviews from other countries

michael Billington
4.0 out of 5 stars Really good book, learned a lot
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 26, 2024
Verified Purchase
A balanced and insightful look at the reign of the last Shah of Iran and why the revolution occurred. The writing is a bit dry at times but there were many insights into the role of the iranian political class in securing the monarchy and Iranian independence in the late 1940's and early 1950's which I was unaware of.

A good and well grounded piece of history which is worth perservering with, this reader gained far more awarness of both the good and the awful mistakes made by the pre-revolutionary regime.
Report
Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book
Reviewed in India on April 22, 2021
Verified Purchase
This is a very interesting book about the Shah of Iran. Truly a tragic individual who meant well but let himself and, more importantly, his country through his personal flaws.
Report