The Last Shah

America, Iran, and the Fall of the Pahlavi Dynasty

By: Ray Takeyh

Narrated by: Eric Jason Martin

The surprising story of Iran's transformation from America's ally in the Middle East into one of its staunchest adversaries

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.

©2021 Ray Takeyh (P)2022 Tantor

Excellent

Detailed yet expensive, excellently researched, and well-written very informative, highly recommend. Hopefully this can help people move past the CIA coup narrative.

perfect for anyone

concise yet comprehensive analysis if Iran in the second half of the 20th century.

An Impressively Objective Read of Modern Iranian History

The performance was dry, with a terrible mispronunciation of important Persian & Arabic words and names. The research is wide and well-done, and listening to this audiobook will give any American reader an honest and accurate understanding of how so much went wrong in what one of the most promising societies in the world, and what Iran’s people, current rulers and well-wishers must keep in mind in order to avoid the past repeating itself. No one is safe from blame or beneath a fair hearing in this must-listen book for IR Professionals.