King of Kings: The Iranian Revolution: A Story of Hubris, Delusion and Catastrophic Miscalculation

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER WINNER OF THE KIRKUS PRIZE From the author of the landmark bestseller Lawrence in Arabia comes a stunningly revelatory narrative history of the Iranian Revolution, one of the most momentous events in modern times. This groundbreaking work exposes the jaw-dropping stupidity of the American government and traces the rise of religious nationalism, offering essential insights into today’s global unrest.On New Year¡¯s Eve 1977, President Jimmy Carter toasted Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, extolling Iran as ¡°an island of stability¡± due to ¡°your leadership and to the respect and the admiration and love which your people give to you.¡± The shah, known as the King of Kings, seemed invulnerable, and he was invaluable to the United States as an ally in the Cold War. Twelve and a half months later, the shah fled Iran into exile, forced from the throne by a volcanic religious revolution led by a fiery cleric named Ayatollah Khomeini. How could the United States have been so blindBased on voluminous research and dozens of interviews, Scott Anderson weaves the spellbinding story of a dictator oblivious to the disdain of his subjects and a super-power blundering into disaster. The Iranian Revolution, Anderson convincingly argues, was as world-shattering an event as the French and Russian Revolutions. Around the globe, including in the United States, the hatred of economically marginalized, religiously fervent masses for a wealthy secular elite has led to violence and upheaval¡ªand Iran was the template. King of Kings is a bravura work of history, and a warning.