Publisher's Weekly Review
Cooper (The Oil Kings), a scholar of oil markets and U.S.-Iran relations, recounts the rise and fall of Iran's glamorous Pahlavi dynasty, challenging common characterizations of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi as a brutal dictator. Focusing on the last Shah's rule, Cooper explains the founding of the Pahlavi monarchy and details the various achievements of the White Revolution of the 1960s and 1970s, "one of the 20th century's great experiments in liberal social and economic reform." These transformed Iran "from a semifeudal baron state into a modern industrial powerhouse" while also encompassing various social advances in women's rights, education, health care, and more. Such reforms, Cooper argues, qualify the Western-oriented Shah as more of a benevolent autocrat than a tyrant. The first part of the book is a sweeping survey of the Shah's time in power; the second is a riveting day-by-day account of the 1978-1979 revolution that toppled the monarchy. Based on various documentary sources as well as impressive access to royalists, revolutionaries, Queen Farah Pahlavi, and various U.S. officials, this thorough work is immensely detailed yet readable and continuously engaging. Cooper's attempts to downplay the regime's abuses are unconvincing, but he provides a fascinating, distinctive, and personal account of the Shah and his rule. (Aug.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
Historians should resist the urge to read history backward and view events as inevitable, an error many have made regarding the fall of the Shah of Iran and his replacement by an Islamic republic under Ayatollah Khomeini. According to this scenario, the Pahlavi dynasty was doomed by its brutality, corruption, and the arrogance of Mohammad Reza Shah. But Cooper (The Oil Kings, 2011) provides an expert and more nuanced view of the Shah, his regime, and its collapse. As he illustrates, the Shah was autocratic without apology, and could be indecisive and prone to wallowing in self-pity. Yet, he was devoted to modernizing his country and made genuine efforts to reach compromises with moderate opposition groups; he even tried to rein inhis dreaded secret police. His fall was the result of a confluence of external and internal factors, including, of course, the effectiveness and fanatic determination of Islamic extremists as well as the ambivalence of the U.S. government. This is a fine revisionist study of major world events that continue to influence the fate of the Middle East.--Freeman, Jay Copyright 2016 Booklist
Choice Review
Mohammed Reza Shah Pahlavi was a controversial figure in 20th-century Iran, reigning from 1949 to 1979. Although Pahlavi is much reviled as a dictator, Cooper (adjunct professor, Columbia) argues that it is time to revisit the Shah's accomplishments. The author traces the events in Iran from January 1, 1978, to January 16, 1979, when the Shah left Iran for the last time. The author has interviewed many of the participants and witnesses of this time, including the former queen, members of the royal court, former Iranian president Abolhassan Banisadr, and former Carter advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski. Cooper argues that the Shah accomplished a great deal for his country, including women's rights, educational reform, and modernization. The author also points out that in the last days of the Shah's reign, he chose to leave the country rather than stay and fight, a strategy that would have led to much greater bloodshed. This book is well written and well researched, but not everyone will agree with the one-sided nature of its conclusions. Summing Up: Recommended. All levels/libraries. --Grant Michael Farr, Portland State University
Library Journal Review
Reverberations from the Iranian Revolution of 1979, which led to the fall of the U.S.-supported Pahlavi dynasty, are still felt throughout the region. Cooper (political science, Columbia Univ.; The Oil Kings) chronicles Mohammed Reza Pahlavi's reign from 1941 to 1979; an autocratic rule balanced with progressive social and economic reforms. The author's substantial research uncovers a multilayered government, filled with religious and political intrigue. The Shah is revealed to be a sympathetic, flawed ruler who believed he had the mandate of heaven as the source of his power, only to see his drive to modernity set back by extremists. Ayatollah Khomeini, who heralded the revolution and became the first Supreme Leader of Iran, is portrayed as a ruthless tyrant who used the media to represent himself as a peace-loving cleric. The American diplomatic and intelligence communities displayed an astounding lack of understanding of Iran's religious and political landscape, with disastrous results. Extensive insights from Mohammed's wife, Farah Pahlavi, add dimension to this portrait of Iran under the Shah's rule. VERDICT A well-researched and fascinating book for readers interested in the history of Iran and the Middle East, current Iranian affairs, and the history of fundamentalist terrorism. [See Prepub Alert, 1/25/16.]-Laurie Unger Skinner, Coll. of Lake Cty., Waukegan, IL © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.