The Lonely War

by Nazila Fathi

In the summer of 2009, as she was covering the popular uprisings in Tehran for the New York Times, Iranian journalist Nazila Fathi received a phone call. “They have given your photo to snipers,” a government source warned her. Soon after, with undercover agents closing in, Fathi fled the country with her husband and two children, beginning a life of exile.

In 'The Lonely War', Fathi interweaves her story with that of the country she left behind, showing how Iran is locked in a battle between hardliners and reformers that dates back to the country’s 1979 revolution. Fathi was nine years old when that uprising replaced the Iranian shah with a radical Islamic regime. Her father, an official at a government ministry, was fired for wearing a necktie and knowing English; to support his family he was forced to labor in an orchard hundreds of miles from Tehran. At the same time, the family’s destitute, uneducated housekeeper was able to retire and purchase a modern apartment—all because her family supported the new regime.
As Fathi shows, changes like these caused decades of inequality—especially for the poor and for women—to vanish overnight. Yet a new breed of tyranny took its place, as she discovered when she began her journalistic career. Fathi quickly confronted the upper limits of opportunity for women in the new Iran and earned the enmity of the country’s ruthless intelligence service. But while she and many other Iranians have fled for the safety of the West, millions of their middleclass countrymen—many of them the same people whom the regime once lifted out of poverty—continue pushing for more personal freedoms and a renewed relationship with the outside world.

Drawing on over two decades of reporting and extensive interviews with both ordinary Iranians and high-level officials before and since her departure, Fathi describes Iran’s awakening alongside her own, revealing how moderates are steadily retaking the country.

Genres: Nonfiction, Iran, Memoir, Middle East, History, Biography Memoir, Biography

336 pages, Paperback

First published October 14, 2014

About the author

Nazila Fathi was the longest serving correspondent for The New York Times in Iran until 2009 when she was forced to leave the country because of government threats against her life. In The Lonely War she chronicles the metamorphosis of Iranian society first as she witnessed the 1979 revolution and then as a reporter.

Read a chapter of the book: At 5 o’clock every Monday afternoon when I was in my early teens, Masoud rang our doorbell. He would flash a toothy smile when I opened the door. Tall and bony, in his early 30s, he’d walk with long strides into the hallway and then our living room, his black boxy briefcase in his hand. To avoid drawing attention to himself, he always wore a pair of faded jeans and a polo shirt, like most other young Iranian men in the late 1980s. In winter, when temperatures in Tehran dipped below freezing, he would arrive bundled in a navy blue overcoat. http://foreignpolicy.com/2014/12/11/w...

If your reading group or book clubs selects The Lonely War, Ms. Fathi will make herself available in person or by skype, depending on her location.

Reviews

[.•º°༺×Ṩสℛสℋ×༻°º•. · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a mixture between learning a lot and still being entertained by a story and narrative. The one star minus only comes through sometimes not holding the balance between the two and drifting off into details of political Iran making it so confusing with all the names. However, I really enjoyed reading and learning.

[Jennie Leigh · Rating 5 out of 5]

A terrific book. Incredibly well written and insightful. Very educational without being preachy.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book shows what one person can do and that action can change a country and it's ideas

[Carol Douglas · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is not only Fathi's personal story,, but a history of modern Iran as well. I learned so much. I realized how much the Iranian revolution was similar to other, non-religious revolutions, such as the Russian revolution. The poor backed it. Many upper-class people were killed. Many lost their jobs, and those were given to the poor supporters of the revolution, who ultimately became middle class. And the revolution devoured its own.
It is so important to see how Iranians feel as individuals. The effects of the revolution are personalized when one reads about an eleven-year-old girl no longer being able to swim in her apartment complex's swimming pool. But, early rebellious, Fathi swam in it once at night, when no one could see, though she knew she could never do it again.
Her account of the terror of being bombed when Iraq attacked Iran is vivid, and she reminds us that the U.S. backed Saddam Hussein throughout that long war. The war took the lives of so many of Iran's young men.
She tells how Iranians became disillusioned with the revolution. She hopes that the rise of the middle class will eventually mean the end of theocracy.
Fathi was the New York Times reporter in Tehran for many years. The regime did not trust the foreign press, or any free press. Ultimately, she and her family had to flee to Canada, or she would have been arrested.
If you want to learn more about Iran, do read this book.

[Tony Bartelme · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this important memoir, Nazila Fathi uses her personal story as a vehicle to explain how the yearnings of poor Iranians to gain more economic and political control led to the rise of the Ayatollah--and years of oppression. It's a lesson that applies to Iran and the United States. Fathi shows how the Ayatollah eventually betrays the ideals that put him in power, and the regime becomes ever-more oppressive. The horrific war with U.S.-backed Iraq cements this fanaticism and leaves every part of Iranian society scalded. Her family suffers tremendous hardships amid her quest to explain the sweep of events shaping her country. And yet “The Lonely War” is surprisingly optimistic. The underlying message is that hope trumps oppression. Highly recommended.

[Harriett Milnes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ms. Fathi was 9 years old when Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was replaced by Ayatollah Khomeini. The Lonely War follows Iran through different leaders, holding different political and religious views. She grows up during these times and becomes a journalist. Excellent memoir of the period 1979 - 2009.

[Chandhrika · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well written except for a couple of instances of incidents and timelines which were unclear. Great perspective of an upper middle-class educated woman going through the different uprisings in Iran. Humility shining through in spite of all the accomplishments of the author. Great read!

[briz · Rating 3 out of 5]

A survey of post-revolution Iranian history, grafted onto the bio of an upper-middle class girl growing up to become the NYT's (only?) journalist on the ground in Tehran. Moral(s) of the story: Iranian society is a lot more nuanced than is regularly portrayed; being a journalist is soooo baller.

So I read this after Emily Bazelon suggested it on the wonderful Political Gabfest. Emily RAVED about it, but my feelings are more "OK, that was strong-ish!" with a side of meh. It was good, sure. The tale of Iran is a deeply interesting one. I had recurring visions of A Separation, one of the most brilliant films ever and a wonderfully rich, humanizing look at classism and domestic strife in modern Iran. Iran tends to get caricatured in American culture ("the great Satan" and all that, oh dear), so it's always nice to get some primary docs from the inside.

But this book? I think my problem was that the writing often went a little flat, and was structured along the lines of: [event from my life] - [long-ish digression explaining a detail about Iranian politics/history/culture] - [incorporating that detail into the next thing that happened in my life] - [next event from my life]. So there was tons of really interesting stuff happening, and I learned a lot and was often deeply moved, but I just had trouble with the narrative structure. It kept throwin' me!

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book. Before I read Fahti's splendid portrayal of her life as a daughter growing up in Tehran during tumultuous times — the Ayatollah Khomenini deposed the shah happened when she was nine years old — what I knew about Iran and these events was what I'd seen and read about the U.S. Embassy takeover and hostage-holding. Her words opened up for me wholly new avenues of understanding and fueled me with desire to learn more from Iranians like her with such vital stories to tell. She expertly wove her vivid personal rendering of the Tehran she'd experienced as a girl into an insightful and penetrating look into the Iran she reported about for international audiences as The New York Times correspondent leading up to and following the 2009 Iranian elections and post-election street demonstrations. Her coverage during this time led her to abruptly depart Iran to seek the safety of exile with her husband and young children. Her words are a joy to read, even though I can imagine how difficult all of this was for her to revisit and write about now that she lives so far away from this place she thought would be her forever home.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nazila Fathi's journey to journalism began in 1992 when New York Times reporter Elaine Sciolino gave Nazila her first notebook. Iran, in 2003 5,000 people and toppled a 2,000 year-old fortress, and for news on Tehran's willingness to allow UN inspectors to visit a high-security military site in 2005. Now living in the U.S., Fathi has published her first book, The Lonely War. She tells her story of witnessing the Iranian revolution at the age of 9, covering the Islamic Republic as a young journalist, having to flee the country in 2009, and leaving behind the moderates who Fathi believes are the future of Iran and worthy of engagement. Emphasizing the role women have played in keeping civic society and human rights on the front page, Fathi argues that technology has evolved faster than repression, and that the youth and middle class of Iran, although cautious and weary, are a rising tide subtly standing up for social and cultural liberties.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great "story" of what life has been like in Iran from the time when the Shah was overthrown to the present (with some historical references to prior times). The author was a contract writer for the New York Times before fleeing the country. She was 9 years old when the Shah fled the country. Since I have not done any further research on Iran I have to admit that I am accepting Fathi's viewpoint as accurate. To me it sounds like this is a nation where the vast majority of the population wants to become part of the world - including friendship with the United States. And it makes me wonder how we can question whether we can trust Iran. The question of whether Iran can trust the United States is equally or more valid.

The last star was lost only because in some cases it read like chapters were written separately and never integrated properly. In other words some things were repeated as if they had not been said previously. A small point - this book is well worth reading.

[Chris Aylott · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thoughtful, complex memoir of growing up in revolutionary Iran. Fathi observes not just the complications of her middle-class life, but the way Iran's lower classes embraced (and in many ways benefited from) Khomeni's revolution.

She also documents a regime that is just barely staying ahead of the revolutions in communications technology -- satellite dishes, the Internet, texting -- that have been destabilizing it. It seems clear that the regime's days are numbered, less clear what would replace it. But if the Iranians can free themselves from theocracy without collapsing into chaos, they could be powerful allies in the Middle East.

[NervousPanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

a great book that managed to keep me turning the pages for hours without realizing the time that passed. an amazing book about the life of an Iranian woman who lived before and after the revolution, sharing her perspective that has been widely been kept shushed from the outside. this book changed my view on the Iranian autocracy that ruled Iran, and the resistance of the people towards tyranny. it is a story about the struggle of the Iranian people in face of a regime that tried to stop by violence, that won in the short run, but forever lost the approval of its people.

[Dottie Resnick · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a riveting story of a young woman growing up in Iran. She was nine years old when "The Shah" was overthrown in 1979, and the start of the Islamic Revolution. Growing up in middle class family she relates the contrasts, struggles and accomplishments of the hardline radicals and the reformers. She is a journalist and documents this book with insightful conversations and interviews with people; activists, officials, and revolutionaries. It is informative and tells of the evolving country, leaving one with hope that the moderates can retake Iran and bring a peaceful future.

[Gary · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a retelling of the story of the revolution with both a personal dimension and also an underlying theme of the persistent determination of the Iranian people to get the freedom they want. This is the story of a young woman who literally grew up alongside the Iranian revolution, became a reporter for the NY Times, and eventually had to flee as the system cracked down on any independent reporting or even implied criticism. The story is told in the non-emotional language of a good reporter, with inside stories of real life in revolutionary Iran.

[Ali Hamidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Neutral view with right and honest impression

Being an Iranian lived there in the same age with the author I felt I am reading my own memories. The good point in this book is the fact that it looks to the events in a neutral way.
There is an important period which is missing in this book and that is the period of Akbar Rafsenjany which is detrimental. He was most influential person as well as the person behind the scene in many events .

[Jamie Jones Hullinger · Rating 4 out of 5]

An extraordinary story about growing up during the Iranian revolution as a female yet still rising above the restrictions and becoming the sole Iranian reporter for the New York Times. A worthwhile read for anyone interested in the plight of women throughout the world. It is insane to me what Iranians face on a daily basis.

[Rita · Rating 4 out of 5]

I definitely recommend this book to all who study history past and present. The story of Iran here in the USA focuses on the leaders and not the people. This helps me put the people into the equation.

Thanks Nazila Fathi for sharing your story.

[Sandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

A powerful and fascinating memoir of the history, politics, and life in Iran written by one of the country's top journalists, Nazila Fathi, a very brave and talented woman. The best book that I have read about life in Iran.

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great read for someone who wants to learn more about Iran's religious and political history. Fathi writes a compelling story for an audience who may have little knowledge of the country's complex past.

[Beth Britnell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book. I have read news stories about Iran for years, but this is the first time I've read something so personal and first-hand. I can't imagine the courage it takes to protest a regime that so publicly threatens, harasses, and kills protestors and students.

[Michael Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book follows the personal narrative of an Iranian women who worked for a foreign news company in Iran. She traces her life before and after the 1979 revolution up to the Green Revolution in 2009/2010. Her story contextualized into the broader Iranian political realm demonstrates civilian thoughts under a theocracy that have been blocked for many years. Super interesting read especially with the protests occurring in the nation last year.

[Solomon J · Rating 4 out of 5]

An informative personal narrative of Iran’s politics and communities since the Iranian revolution.

[Kian Tajbakhsh · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a memoir of a journalist working in Iran for the NY Times in the 2000s. She was harassed and probably would have been arrested if she hadn’t left the country. Like many memoirs I have read, the author (whom I know personally) makes an interestingly ambiguous claim (112): She says "I was helping to change the international perception of Iran from the western demonization of “Iranians” – although in my view the Western media has never demonized Iranians but it has targeted the Iranian regime - but to what? She goes on: “There were millions of Iranians “who longed for freedom and dignity just as people did in any other part of the world…the regime aimed to stamp out these impulses...The IRI denies freedom to its citizens." Well it’s clear what is being said here: Nazila’s story confirms the narrative of a hostile, jihadi, revolutionary state that hates the West and America especially. Her descriptions of brutal torture and beating of a political prisoner (Mehdi Aminzadeh) are difficult to read, as harrowing as Laura Secor’s descriptions in the latter’s book. The author wonders, reasonably, how so many students could be living and studying in the capital city while some of their colleagues were imprisoned and being tortured just a few miles to the north in Evin prison. Many of those imprisoned had already written books and their stories were circulating on the internet. “Many cab drivers told me different versions of the stories they had heard first hand. It was no secret what the regime was still capable of doing to its opponents.” (215).

This is of interest to me: how ordinary people under repressive conditions cannot avoid going about their daily lives either ignoring or repressing the realities in their vicinity. Perplexing.

[Christie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book recounts the author's life in Iran, from the Islamic Revolution in 1979 to her fleeing the country in 2009. As a preteen in 1979, she found her freedoms suddenly taken away from her with the revolution. She struggled to find a life for herself as a woman in a restrictive culture. Finding a passion for journalism after serving as a translator for Western journalists, Fathi eventually became a contributor to newspapers such as the New York Times where she reported on the protests and resistance activities of Iranians.

I felt like this was a good companion book to The Complete Persepolis. Both women's stories are similar, but have some diverging points. Fathi stays in Iran through her teen years and most of her adulthood, where Satrapi left Iran during her adolescence. I found this book to give an enlightening look at what growing up would have been like in that environment. The teens were getting in bootlegged Western music and movies, and pushing the boundaries of the dress code as much as they could (like teens everywhere do to some extent). I also learned a lot about life in modern Iran from this book that I did not know before.

I highly recommend this book to those wanting to learn more about Iran and the Islamic Revolution, especially if you want to get an idea about life for regular people there. It is a very eye-opening read that goes beyond headlines and world politics.

[Jane E · Rating 5 out of 5]

I put off reading this for years assuming that it would be similar to "Reading Lolita in Tehran" an irritating, whiny book that tainted my view of Iranian women writers. How wrong I was. Nazila Fathi presents a surprisingly balanced history of the Iranian Republic considering that she is now an exile. In spite of all the intimidation and violence which is not minimized there were positive aspects as well. Oil revenues were spread more widely through the population stretching the power grid and clean running water to isolated villages. Compulsory education forced literacy from the abysmally low levels under the shah to close to 100% and increased the economic prospects for the majority of the population that sat at the bottom of the social hierarchy. The uneducated, blind followers of the regime were replaced with a young, educated class that challenged the status quo resulting in violence that shocked even those used to the regime's excesses. I felt that even though nothing seemed to have really changed everything had and the future is possibly hopeful if not guaranteed. One of the most interesting books that I have read in a long time.

[Ajay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Growing up under the Islamic Revolution, Nazila has an immense insight into the terror of living under a tyrannical regime. The mix of personal and political against a backdrop of war and revolution. This book had insight into Iranian life, culture, and politics like none other I have read.

The Ministry of Intelligence. The Basij. The Clerics. The Green Revolution. The Middle Class. The Poor. There are so many actors in the great struggle within Iran. This book will speak too all of them from a deeply personal perspective.

There is a notable bias that any reader should be aware of, Nazila shows little care for the poor of Iran, of their hardship, and is without a doubt a part of the secular, progressive part of Iran. Still --I was left by the end with a feeling of despair, hope, and a window into the struggle that lies ahead for Iran.

[Jenna Ohrn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although not an "easy" summer read, I really enjoyed this book and feel like I truly gained a much better understanding of Iranian politics and society by reading it. The writer takes complex subject matter and makes it consumable without dumbing it down at all. I appreciated that Fathi would mention a political figure or major event and when referencing it again much later, would provide you with just enough information to remind you of the significance, without constantly rehashing the same things. Her journalistic skill really shines through and while it is clear where her general political allegiances lie, she writes with an impartiality that I admire. Certainly gave me a lot of food for thought on how the international community should approach Iran and makes me eager to see how this nation transforms over time.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Lonely War is a particularly good book because it puts a human face on the Iranian Revolution. Fathi writes clearly about the vicissitudes of Iran's political strife and social changes into modernity while weaving her story beautifully throughout the book.
Fathi writes of growing up in an upper-middle class family and suddenly faced with regime change and societal perceptions of class. Fathi, a journalist for the NY Times, courageously pursues stories risking arrest, beatings, and disappearance. She questioned the morality teachers when she was in school and remained critical of oppressive laws and violence the regime changes brought into Iranian daily life.
I highly recommend this book.

[Ross · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredible story and insight into revolutionary Iran combing insight into the social and political circumstances and changes happening in Iran. This is strengthened with the authors own personal, insightful and deeply engrossing story.