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A review by geldauran
All the Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror by Stephen Kinzer
4.0
A harrowing and sometimes shameful look into the history and politics surrounding the American/British coup of the democratically elected government in Iran.
The title seems a bit erroneous because the book does not truly speak to the "roots of middle east terror," though it gives a detailed and unabashedly honest account of the tremendously horrid treatment of a democratic government and the Iranian people at the hands of those who had just a few years previously fought for democracy, justice, and freedom during WWII. One might easily work to extrapolate the influences this time, these events, and this sort of treatment might have had on the modern middle east, and why many Iranians could/would/should be upset with the Western world and its politics. The book is now some 8 years old, even by its most recent edition, but it is not difficult to take the history presented and understand its influence not only on Bush-era America-Iranian relationships, but also on Obama's administration and the recent Iranian Nuclear Deals.
I feel further compelled to find and read a biography of Prime Minister Mossadegh, to understand the life, politics, and ideals of such an interesting character.
The title seems a bit erroneous because the book does not truly speak to the "roots of middle east terror," though it gives a detailed and unabashedly honest account of the tremendously horrid treatment of a democratic government and the Iranian people at the hands of those who had just a few years previously fought for democracy, justice, and freedom during WWII. One might easily work to extrapolate the influences this time, these events, and this sort of treatment might have had on the modern middle east, and why many Iranians could/would/should be upset with the Western world and its politics. The book is now some 8 years old, even by its most recent edition, but it is not difficult to take the history presented and understand its influence not only on Bush-era America-Iranian relationships, but also on Obama's administration and the recent Iranian Nuclear Deals.
I feel further compelled to find and read a biography of Prime Minister Mossadegh, to understand the life, politics, and ideals of such an interesting character.