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4.18 AVERAGE
4.18 AVERAGE
informative
medium-paced
Great book and very well written. It was very informative/educational while at the same time it was very entertaining because Kinzer did a great job of moving back and forth in the timeline if events to make the whole story more dramatic.
It did bother me, though, that he seemed at times to have some sort of bias and wasn't giving all the facts. For example I was surprised when he briefly mentioned that the CIA had Iranian agents in 1951. Truman would've been President, but Kinzer very much seemed to want to paint him as a "good guy" and not so much Eisenhower. I also wish he'd explained more the agriculture prize Mossadegh won. Was it awarded by the Shah's govt?
But still a great book and I very much recommend it.
It did bother me, though, that he seemed at times to have some sort of bias and wasn't giving all the facts. For example I was surprised when he briefly mentioned that the CIA had Iranian agents in 1951. Truman would've been President, but Kinzer very much seemed to want to paint him as a "good guy" and not so much Eisenhower. I also wish he'd explained more the agriculture prize Mossadegh won. Was it awarded by the Shah's govt?
But still a great book and I very much recommend it.
challenging
informative
reflective
sad
fast-paced
A great account of things Imperial powers did just to stop Iran from nationalising their own oil fields. I would have given it 5 stars if Author didn't tried to justify the coup by saying that the only worse scenario would have been a Soviet takeover forgetting that how a religious extremist regime is not hellish enough.
challenging
informative
slow-paced
informative
reflective
fast-paced
any historical event could be written in this character-driven style and it would be entertaining. I specifically enjoyed the deep background on Iranian culture/religion to put the revolution into context.
A fantastic companion piece to from Beirut to Jerusalem and other books about the middle east which help explain how we got here today.
dark
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
Brilliant, gives alot of insight on the political transformation in Iran and the role that the US and the UK played in it