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Everything that has happened in Iran since 1954 is an extended consequence of the CIA overthrow of Mossadegh, the worst mistake in the history of American diplomacy. I'm just the reviewer, and these are my clumsily simplified extrapolations of Ryszard Kapuscinski's nuanced impressions, supposedly written on scraps in his hotel room in Teheran in 1980, at the end of Jimmy Carter's ineptitude but before Ronald Reagan's consummate covert idiocy.Kapuscinski was too subtle and artful an essayist ever to have been an ordinary journalist. The "American Century" -- actually a half century at best -- ended with the fall of Shah Reza Pahlavi.C. Any Iranian who didn't celebrate the fall of the Shah was obviously on the Shah's payroll of clientage.H. A.
This book was written before the worst days of the Iran-Iraq War and the repression that has occurred under the clerical autocracy, but it is not dated. Perhaps only an observer like Kapuscinski - an outsider to both sides of everything, a Pole, a man who traveled with Herodotus in his pocket of memory - could have written such a report, placing what he saw first hand the day before in the context of all recorded history. Revolution, however justified and even salubrious, seldom or never brings out the best human qualities of the victors.If any of these premises seem unfounded or offensive, don't lambaste me. As you read on, however, amused by the author's wit, the intensity of Kapuscinski's awed recognition of the significance of the Islamic Revolution builds and builds. The world is no longer an Anglophone sea.F. the first 'chapters' are labeled 'Daguerrotypes - innoucuous impressions at most. Recovery of sane social and political norms in Iran will eventually depend on the legacy of respect for Mossadegh and his brief era of democracy.E. "Shah of Shahs" is an extreme example of Kapuscinski's indirection; it starts out as a collection of snapshots - literally.
Modern Islam is built on its petroleum reserves, on the sense of divine favor that petroleum wealth confers.B. His writing is too graceful to be merely what it seems. It's well worth reading today and it will continue to be a source for historians long into the future. At least, that's how Iranians and most of the rest of the world interpret history.D. The late Shah's SAVAK made Tamerlane, Vlad the Impaler, and the Spanish Inquisition look like pussycats.G.
Was to graphic and details of things that happened that I didn't need to know about. Never did like this book.
Errors like that are enormous in this book. I read this book twice both in Persian & English and found lots of historical errors in the book such as claims that PM Mossadeq was democratically elected back in 1950s which is totally wrong. PM Mossadeq was APPOINTED as PM by the King of Iran, Shah Reza Pahlavi in 1950 and when ordered to quit, the Shah had to execute a UK-US backed coup against him.
He is a wonderful, direct writer. It is particularly strong on the psychology of various players. The rewarding 152 page book goes by in no time. Kapuscinski writes persceptively about Iran before and during the Iranian revolution, based on his extended stay there during the period it occured. He combines factual reporting and his own impressions based on notes, tapes and photographs.
A super read. that affect today's life in this area. The author literally immersed himself in these cultures at great risk in order to provide an accurate portrayal. Everyone interested in understanding what is going on in Iraq, Iran and the rest of the middle east should read this book. It provides a succinct, informed history of rulers, dynasties, cultures, etc.
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