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jessicakimmet's review
This has to be the most well written and captivating book every written on the topic of the Iranian Revolution, or about any revolution for that matter. The author sucks you in with his story telling, you feel like you are somehow there, a part of the story.
wordsfromvictoria's review
5.0
A snapshot of Iran at the build-up to the Iranian revolution, and a meditation on the nature of fear and the psychological causes of revolution. Not strictly journalism, but maybe more of a work of faction. Its not entirely clear if the vignettes based on the collection of photographs are true or imaginary, however these perhaps imaginary scenarios serve to tell us "truths" about the causes of the Iranian Revolution. This is a unique work which although entitled the Shah of Shahs, is an accessible and brief introduction to the Iranian Revolution.
ahundredosnxs's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
fast-paced
4.5
taliupthepages's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
4.25
deltabelta's review against another edition
4.0
As its introduction admits, this book can be criticized for certain exaggerations of the Shah’s reign, or how poorly it has aged in light of the Islamic Republic. But that is the concession of Kapuściński having been a journalist, not a historian. He didn’t have the big picture, the benefit of hindsight, all our academics have learned from decades of study. He was down there with his nose in it. All he can tell us is what it was like down there in the streets during the revolution — what they were saying, how they were feeling, what they were thinking. It’s pivotal to understanding why the revolution happened in the first place. And some of the criticisms of the Shah — his disastrous handling of the profits of the 1973 oil shock, and his general crippling indecisiveness — were totally accurate as factors in the downfall of his reign.
moth_dance's review
3.0
Read this for a graduate course; I probably wouldn't have picked this up on my own TBH.
Poetic journalism with lots of observation on a giant moment in history that is often overlooked or misunderstood in American classrooms. Does a better job at educating when it's accompanied by a more precise historical account of the events, and I wish the preface was included in the 1992 Vintage edition. But Kapuściński is a total marvel with form and words. I'm excited to read more of his work now.
Poetic journalism with lots of observation on a giant moment in history that is often overlooked or misunderstood in American classrooms. Does a better job at educating when it's accompanied by a more precise historical account of the events, and I wish the preface was included in the 1992 Vintage edition. But Kapuściński is a total marvel with form and words. I'm excited to read more of his work now.
jessica_irving's review
4.0
I feel almost blasphemous not giving this five stars as my experience so far of reading Ryszard Kapuściński has been really, really great. There are some incredible chapters here and his prose is as usual acrobatic, building sickening dread through a nonlinear narrative of snapshots. I’ve seen someone else here describe his writing as overly ‘flowery’ but I adore it. His raw insights into the nature of terror on the individual and collective human psyche and dictatorship structures are as usual utterly original - I was pencil underlining furiously.
However, while I learned a lot even in a small number of pages, I still felt confused on the overall timeline of events, as key events were missing or only sparsely treated. I would also have loved to know more about the hostage crisis than one sentence.
However, while I learned a lot even in a small number of pages, I still felt confused on the overall timeline of events, as key events were missing or only sparsely treated. I would also have loved to know more about the hostage crisis than one sentence.