Kinzer has a real gift to write history that is deep, accurate and, at the same time, as gripping as a novel.

Kinzer cares about Iran and his trip to Tehran for visiting the house that Mosaddeq stayed and lived his final years (which he chronicles in the epilogue of this book), shows that he is passionate about Iran and its fate. His passion is palpable in the account that he offers. The relationship between Iran and the United States has been so bad, for so long, that it seems like it’s always been that way. The subject of this book is a coup aimed at overthrowing Mohammad Mossadegh, the democratically elected Prime Minister of Iran. The author delves into the details of the coup and explores its ramifications that continue to be felt to this day. For those who like their spy data raw, the CIA′s secret history is now freely available, thanks to a leek..." ( Economist, 15 August 2003) Obviously, this dose of Sufi metaphysics does not explain the storming of the U.S. embassy in 1979 but it serves to humanize Iran for the outsider perhaps more than any listing of the historical achievements of Cyrus the Great or Darius in ancient Persia. Iran has a very rich & complex history & Kinzer builds on that history so that a casual reader can begin to fathom the happenings in 1979 & what led up to that moment in history.

The author makes good use of the material, toggling his drama between Washington, where CIA desk officers furiously churned out material for bought–off Iranian newspapers and radio stations, to Teheran, where Roosevelt scurried among clandestine meetings with Reza Pahlevi a man so timorous he flew to Baghdad when the plot seemed to unravel as well as with various treasonous Iranian Army officers. His critical stance towards U.S. foreign policy throughout the past decades shows that he sees the hand of the United States in almost any development throughout the world and this book is not an exception. While it might have a certain charm for some that Kinzer takes an almost activist-like stance against U.S policies, it does no good for objective historical writing. His recent remarks about the Russian invasion of Ukraine and blaming it on NATO expansion further reveals his penchant for isolating the effects of U.S. policies and criticizing them out of context.) In 1950 communists advanced across Korea. The prior year the USSR tested a nuclear weapon and Mao won the civil war in China. Countries across eastern Europe had governments imposed by Moscow. Truman thought the developing world would adopt Marxism if the west didn't accept nationalism. Iran was at risk due to British refusal to compromise on oil leases. Churchill was PM again in 1951 and Eisenhower president in 1953. Britain needed oil to pay US war debts. The Shah became increasingly oppressive and after 26 years Iranians finally had enough, overthrowing him in 1979. The US government was clueless, unaware of how much the Shah and his main benefactor the US were hated. The Iranians never forgot who was behind the coup. The next big mistake was to invite the Shah to the US. This played right into the hands of Iranian extremists. Since the US had engineered one coup to put the Shah in power, the idea that the US was planning the same thing again had compelling logic to the Iranians. The takeover of the US embassy in Tehran and the hostage crisis were the immediate result. A regime that supported terrorists and destabilized the entire Middle East was the longer term result. British goals in Iran were thwarted as well by U.S. opposition. President Harry Truman had no patience for the idea of empire, and his gut support for nationalist movements in the Third World made him cool to British overtures to help overthrow Mossadegh. In an attempt to calm tensions, Truman offered a number of compromises, which the British rejected. When Winston Churchill was re-elected prime minister in 1951, he had little doubt that covert action was called for. And when Dwight Eisenhower was elected president, Churchill found a much more receptive ear.

But again, this is a fabulous read, that I would recommend to anyone who is curious about this fascinating period of history. All the Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror is a book written by American journalist Stephen Kinzer. provides an able and often vivid summary of our knowledge..." ( BBC History Magazine, December 2003) i129312289 |b1160002917752 |dvlnf |g- |m |h4 |x1 |t0 |i2 |j70 |k200207 |n06-21-2022 00:19 |o- |a955.05 |rKINIran's struggle to modernize provokes questions. Should governments lease national resources? Should developed nations lease land from underdeveloped ones? Foreign investment could help develop domestic infrastructure. Aramco, the Arabian-American Oil Co., agreed to 50% royalties in 1950 while the Anglo-Iranian Oil Co. was paying 15%. When contracts were canceled the UK chose embargos and considered armed invasion, an avoidable crisis. The 1953 US engineered coup in Iran profoundly changed history. Despite Mossadegh’s worldwide 1951 fame, few Americans today would likely know who he was or how America took him down. Yet in Iran he is remembered by all as a hero. Thus most Americans cannot understand how Iranians see the US and the world. In 2015 we are still bearing the repercussions of colonialism exacerbated by Cold War tunnel vision. Kinzer offers up an apt quote from Harry Truman,” There is nothing new in the world except the history you don’t know.” Kashani’s split from the National Front — and his dissent against Mosaddeq — for example is solely attributed to the work of Rashidian Brothers and no ulterior motive is considered. The fact that Kashani was a power-hungry politician with some ties to Fada'iyan-e Islam terrorist cells (who had assassinated General Razmara in 1951), is not given that much weight. Kinzer doesn’t openly claim that the situation developed under the tight control of CIA and MI6, but by recounting the events through the prism of those agencies, he takes the power away from Iranian political actors. By doing so, he reduces the internal forces to mere pawns, trapped in a great game arranged by intelligence agencies, destined to play their designated roles. The element of chaos and confusion — inherent in any political upheaval — is almost nonexistent in his tale.

Review: All the Shah's Men Title All the Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror Author Stephen Kinzer Publisher Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, 2003 ISBN 0-471-26517-9 They stormed the American embassy in Tehran and held fifty-two American diplomats hostage for more than fourteen months."Conveniently enough, the secretary of state could ask his brother to do the dirty work. Allen Dulles was then running the newly founded C.LA., which had grown out of the wartime Office of Strategic Services. The C.I.A.′s man in Tehran was Kermit Roosevelt, an affable young O.S.S. veteran who had inherited his grandfather Theodore′s taste for adventure. After masterminding the 1953 coup, Roosevelt began his victory speech by crowing, "Friends, Persians, countrymen, lend me your ears!" If the exploitation of our oil industry continues in which the Iranian plays the part of a mere manual worker, and if foreign exploiters continue to appropriate practically all of the income, then our people will remain forever in a state of poverty and misery." Albright's statement didn't seem to make big news at the time. Indeed, most of the information in Stephen Kinzer's All The Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror is as unknown as it at first glance seems unlikely. But many of the events are public. The others Kinzer documents from biographies, journals, memoirs, newspapers, and official CIA service history. It all seems truthful enough. But other things than Americans overthrowing democratically elected Iranian leaders seem to make the news, such as Iranians holding Americans hostage almost 25 years later. Wherever the former (Anglo-Persian Oil) company may operate in the future, it will never again operate in Iran. Neither by trusteeship nor by contract will we turn over to foreigners the right to exploit our oil resources." The US was concerned that Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh was seeking help from the local superpower, the Soviet Union, against Britain. The Eisenhower administration agreed with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill's government to restore the pro-Western Shah to power. In the summer of 1953, the CIA and Britain's MI6 arranged a coup in Tehran. Mossadegh was successfully overthrown and spent the rest of his life on his country estate under house arrest, and Iran remained a staunch Cold War ally of the West. After more than 20 years of the Shah's rule, there was a bloody revolution in 1979 and brought into power an Islamic republic, which has ruled ever since.

When Kinzer traces a direct line from the 1953 coup to 9/11, it seems to me that he is drawing over-simplified lines through history. When he says that Islamic terrorism has its roots in 1953, he is visualizing “roots” that might be a bit too short.

A Quasi-Victory for America

All the Shah's Men is an entertaining and educating read. It sheds light on one of the most important U.S. actions in the Middle East of the 20th century. It is also a book with relevance to today. It is said that those who ignore history are condemned to repeat it. This book should be read thoughtfully by anyone concerned about where the current U.S. administration's policies might lead. aDLC |beng |erda |cDLC |dUKM |dBAKER |dYDXCP |dC#P |dBTCTA |dIAK |dKAAUA |dBDX |dUKMGB |dCTB |dCHVBK |dOCLCF |dOCL |dNYP |dOCLCQ |dOCL |dOCLCQ |dUW3 |dOCLCO |dAUD |dOCLCA |dDHA |dKJ6 |dOCLCQ |dCSJ |dOCLCQ |dOCLCA |dIOK |dMNI |dUKUOY |dOCLCQ |dOCLCA |dOCL |dMM9 |dOCLCQ |dJYJ |dOCLCO |dCOM Dogged original research and superb narrative skills come together in this gripping account of pitiless evil.