The Life and Times of the Shah by Gholam Reza Afkhami

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Synopsis

This epic biography, a gripping insider's account, is a long-overdue chronicle of the life and times of Mohammad Reza Shah, who ruled from 1941 to 1979 as the last Iranian monarch. Gholam Reza Afkhami uses his unparalleled access to a large number of individuals--including high-ranking figures in the shah's regime, members of his family, and members of the opposition--to depict the unfolding of the shah's life against the forces and events that shaped the development of modern Iran. The first major biography of the Shah in twenty-five years, this richly detailed account provides a radically new perspective on key events in Iranian history, including the 1979 revolution, U.S.-Iran relations, and Iran's nuclear program. It also sheds new light on what now drives political and cultural currents in a country at the heart of today's most perplexing geopolitical dilemmas.

Publishers Weekly

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Iran's ruler from 1941 to 1979-and one of the 20th century's more controversial political figures-gets a spirited if not always compelling defense in this sprawling biography. Afkhami (The Iranian Revolution), an Iranian studies scholar and an official of the shah's regime, paints him as a moderate, progressive leader who championed women's rights, secularism and balanced economic development. He was his own man, not an American puppet, Afkhami argues, strenuously challenging interpretations of the 1953 ousting of the nationalist prime minister, Mohammad Mossadeq, as a CIA-engineered coup. And the crimes of his notorious SAVAK secret police, the author contends, were milder than commonly thought-and anyway, the shah knew little about them. Afkhami corrects conventional views of the shah's reign as merely a despotic prelude to the Islamic revolution, but his perspective seems blinkered by his subject's self-regard. The shah emerges as almost a paragon-devoted to his people and Iran's constitution, undone by his own misguided humanity and restraint in confronting Khomeini's cabal of Islamists and their liberal dupes. When all Iran rises to overthrow him, the reader is as surprised as the shah. Photos. (Jan.)

Biography

Gholam Reza Afkhami is Senior Scholar at the Foundation for Iranian Studies. Before the revolution of 1979 he was Professor of Political Science at the National University of Iran, Secretary-General of Iran's National Committee for World Literacy Program and Deputy Minister of Interior. He is author of The Iranian Revolution, among other books.