Overview

Full Product Details

9781504723497

Table of Contents

Reviews

A sympathetic account of the imperial couple of the Peacock Throne portrayed as so blindly benevolent that they did not see the Iranian Revolution coming...Cooper addresses many of what he believes are misconceptions of the regime, such as the grossly inflated numbers of those imprisoned and executed by the shah's notorious secret police as well as the shah's consent to the use of force on demonstrators. A thorough new appraisal of an enigmatic ruler who died believing his people still loved him. -- Kirkus Reviews (starred review) Cooper, a scholar of oil markets and US-Iran relations, recounts the rise and fall of Iran's glamorous Pahlavi dynasty, challenging common characterizations of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi as a brutal dictator...This thorough work is immensely detailed yet readable and continuously engaging...A fascinating, distinctive, and personal account of the Shah and his rule. -- Publishers Weekly The Shah is revealed to be a sympathetic, flawed ruler who believed he had the mandate of heaven as the source of his power, only to see his drive to modernity set back by extremists...Extensive insights from Mohammed's wife, Farah Pahlavi, add dimension to this portrait of Iran under the Shah's rule. A well-researched and fascinating book. -- Library Journal Cooper provides an expert and more nuanced view of the Shah, his regime, and its collapse...His fall was the result of a confluence of external and internal factors, including, of course, the effectiveness and fanatic determination of Islamic extremists as well as the ambivalence of the US government. This is a fine revisionist study of major world events that continue to influence the fate of the Middle East. -- Booklist Here is all the power and glamour-but also the dark side and ultimately the tragedy-of the last Shah of Iran. A moving and thoroughly researched account. -- Robert Lacey, author of The Kingdom The Fall of Heaven is a vivid and penetrating portrait of the last chapters of imperial Iran and the ruler whose attempt to thrust his country into modernity ended with upheaval and exile. This book provides valuable insight into the background of a revolution that is still shaking international politics today. -- Paul R. Pillar, senior fellow at Georgetown University and the Brookings Institution

The Fall of Heaven is a vivid and penetrating portrait of the last chapters of imperial Iran and the ruler whose attempt to thrust his country into modernity ended with upheaval and exile. This book provides valuable insight into the background of a revolution that is still shaking international politics today. -- Paul R. Pillar, senior fellow at Georgetown University and the Brookings Institution Here is all the power and glamour-but also the dark side and ultimately the tragedy-of the last Shah of Iran. A moving and thoroughly researched account. -- Robert Lacey, author of The Kingdom Cooper provides an expert and more nuanced view of the Shah, his regime, and its collapse...His fall was the result of a confluence of external and internal factors, including, of course, the effectiveness and fanatic determination of Islamic extremists as well as the ambivalence of the US government. This is a fine revisionist study of major world events that continue to influence the fate of the Middle East. -- Booklist The Shah is revealed to be a sympathetic, flawed ruler who believed he had the mandate of heaven as the source of his power, only to see his drive to modernity set back by extremists...Extensive insights from Mohammed's wife, Farah Pahlavi, add dimension to this portrait of Iran under the Shah's rule. A well-researched and fascinating book. -- Library Journal Cooper, a scholar of oil markets and US-Iran relations, recounts the rise and fall of Iran's glamorous Pahlavi dynasty, challenging common characterizations of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi as a brutal dictator...This thorough work is immensely detailed yet readable and continuously engaging...A fascinating, distinctive, and personal account of the Shah and his rule. -- Publishers Weekly A sympathetic account of the imperial couple of the Peacock Throne portrayed as so blindly benevolent that they did not see the Iranian Revolution coming...Cooper addresses many of what he believes are misconceptions of the regime, such as the grossly inflated numbers of those imprisoned and executed by the shah's notorious secret police as well as the shah's consent to the use of force on demonstrators. A thorough new appraisal of an enigmatic ruler who died believing his people still loved him. -- Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

The Fall of Heaven is a vivid and penetrating portrait of the last chapters of imperial Iran and the ruler whose attempt to thrust his country into modernity ended with upheaval and exile. This book provides valuable insight into the background of a revolution that is still shaking international politics today. -- ""Paul R. Pillar, senior fellow at Georgetown University and the Brookings Institution"" A sympathetic account of the imperial couple of the Peacock Throne portrayed as so blindly benevolent that they did not see the Iranian Revolution coming...Cooper addresses many of what he believes are misconceptions of the regime, such as the grossly inflated numbers of those imprisoned and executed by the shah's notorious secret police as well as the shah's consent to the use of force on demonstrators. A thorough new appraisal of an enigmatic ruler who died believing his people still loved him. -- ""Kirkus Reviews (starred review)"" Cooper provides an expert and more nuanced view of the Shah, his regime, and its collapse...His fall was the result of a confluence of external and internal factors, including, of course, the effectiveness and fanatic determination of Islamic extremists as well as the ambivalence of the US government. This is a fine revisionist study of major world events that continue to influence the fate of the Middle East. -- ""Booklist"" Cooper, a scholar of oil markets and US-Iran relations, recounts the rise and fall of Iran's glamorous Pahlavi dynasty, challenging common characterizations of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi as a brutal dictator...This thorough work is immensely detailed yet readable and continuously engaging...A fascinating, distinctive, and personal account of the Shah and his rule. -- ""Publishers Weekly"" Here is all the power and glamour-but also the dark side and ultimately the tragedy-of the last Shah of Iran. A moving and thoroughly researched account. -- ""Robert Lacey, author of The Kingdom "" The Shah is revealed to be a sympathetic, flawed ruler who believed he had the mandate of heaven as the source of his power, only to see his drive to modernity set back by extremists...Extensive insights from Mohammed's wife, Farah Pahlavi, add dimension to this portrait of Iran under the Shah's rule. A well-researched and fascinating book. -- ""Library Journal""

Author Information

Andrew Scott Cooper is the author of The Oil Kings: How the US, Iran, and Saudi Arabia Changed the Balance of Power in the Middle East, which Simon and Schuster published in 2011. His writing on contemporary Iran appears regularly in the Guardian. He lives in Brooklyn. Assaf Cohen is an AudioFile Earphones Award-winning narrator. He has appeared in various plays, short films, and television shows. He grew up in Palo Alto and attended UC Berkeley where he earned a bachelor's degree in integrative biology. He continued his classical training by earning a master of fine arts in acting from the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University under the instruction of legendary acting instructor William Esper.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available