The Life and Times of the Shah

by Gholam Reza Afkhami

This epic biography, a gripping insider's account, is a long-overdue chronicle of the life and times of Mohammad Reza Shah, who ruled from 1941 to 1979 as the last Iranian monarch. Gholam Reza Afkhami uses his unparalleled access to a large number of individuals―including high-ranking figures in the shah's regime, members of his family, and members of the opposition―to depict the unfolding of the shah's life against the forces and events that shaped the development of modern Iran. The first major biography of the Shah in twenty-five years, this richly detailed account provides a radically new perspective on key events in Iranian history, including the 1979 revolution, U.S.-Iran relations, and Iran's nuclear program. It also sheds new light on what now drives political and cultural currents in a country at the heart of today's most perplexing geopolitical dilemmas.

Genres: History, Biography, Middle East, Politics, Nonfiction, Iran, Asia

740 pages, Hardcover

First published November 20, 2008

About the author

Gholam Reza Afkhami was an Iranian-born American scholar, author, educator, and a Pahlavi Iran government official. He was the senior scholar and director of Social Science Research and International Studies at the Foundation for Iranian Studies. The Foundation for Iranian Studies is a Bethesda, Maryland-based research institution dedicated to the study of Iranian history, culture, economy and politics, created with the financial support from Princess Ashraf Pahlavi.

Reviews

[Douglas Graney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Scanned this book for the most part; in prepration of taking my students to the Iranian Interests Section. The author (worked in the Shah's government) pays scant attention to the human rights abuses of the Shah's rule. However the descriptions of secret agreements with Israel, the revolution, the Shah's cancer and how that affected the hostages and his experiences in the U.S., Panama and Egypt were quite interesting.

[Bahman Bahman · Rating 3 out of 5]

بین سه کتابی که توسط پژوهشگران ایرانی در باره زندگی و زمانه شاه نوشته شده، یعنی این کتاب و کتاب های دکتر نهاوندی و دکتر میلانی، به نظرم این کتاب کمتر جنبه هیجانی و جذاب برای خواننده و در عوض بیشتر جنبه تحلیلی و بی طرفانه دارد.

[Sassan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good read full of primary and secondary sources rather than just the innuendo and gossip that tends to permeate the Shah's history and record. There is no doubt that this book is the interpretive narrative of someone who was close to the regime; but is an overall balanced book and a narrative that was much needed. For a bit more objectivity, I would recommend Abbas Milani's, "The Shah". I will update my review later in more detail when I have the opportunity to do so. *Note, I am not a monarchist; but there is no doubt that the Shah despite his faults and personality weaknesses, was an Iranian patriot. An objective and balanced factual history is needed; and this is a supplement.

[S. Sam Farschi]

I am currently on page 188, at this point Zahedi and Reza M. Shah is trying to come into agreement about the proceedings for Iran closely after Mossadeqs fall.
I really like the book, and the authors description of the Shah's family, the Pahlavi family that is, was not something I at all was expecting. It was beautiful, and it was a proud feeling to know that the last monarch family for my country had such a touching connection... a king who truly loved his son, a son to be the last king of a 2500 year long lasting empire. However Id like to just note, something I wasnt expecting to feel, that the last Shah very much seemed to be stuck in his ways of wanting to overcome his father which painted him as quiet childish and more importantly incompetent. I read this book knowing very well what happens, and it just feels like a super strong tendency for our final king was running away; all up until the very end when he was reaching his early 60s. Was he not at a point in which a great turnaround was evident, with all of his power and the clarity towards what his legacy needed to be; he could never betray his country. I believ a true king, if I could speak planely from the heart, ought to be unwavering in his promise to both live and die for his country; even if he should fall at the hands of his own people. Instead he fled, and with it clustered the emotions of a very complex dynamic thats existed for longer than any other cultural phenomena in human existence; our final Shah played with our emotions by never taking his own seriously.
I hope to change my mind by the time I finish this book, and get to truly understand his whole time as king from, as we say in farsi, "garlic to onion" (0-100)

[Paras Jalili · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is easy to read and isn't plain which is good. However, there is obvious bias towards the Shah and his family. The book doesn't give any negative aspects of the Phlavi family or doesn't explore any of their wrong doings. I am not for or against the shah, and would have liked an unbiased history book exploring the events from an objective lens.
Even if the author is for the Shah, he should have tried to give an account that explores both sides of history.

[P · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very interesting book. It not only satisfied every instinct toward idle curiosity that made me want to read it in the first place, but it also added a new (and, I gather, somewhat underrepresented) line to my understanding of the history of the area and period. Of course, it's impossible not to notice the bias of the author when you read this book. He says a great deal about all the good the Shah did in terms of modernizing Iran, but his dismissal of the allegations against him are obviously facile and shallow, even to the layman. In the end, glimpses into the private and public travails of an absolute dictator make you realize why he did what he did, and even make him a little sympathetic; they don't, however, make him a saint, which is clearly what the author wants.

[Shane Hill · Rating 5 out of 5]

A grand book of a great man! The west has blood on its hands for letting this man fall and the radical islamists replace him!