All the Shah′s Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror

Product Information

Following the 1941 Allied Invasion of Iran, Reza Shah was forced to abdicate in favour of his son Mohammad Reza Shah, who upheld the oil agreement with APOC, which by then had been renamed the "Anglo-Iranian Oil Company". All the Shah's Men is a comprehensive, thoughtful & exceedingly enjoyable attempt at rendering a very complicated event in American-Iranian relations and I highly recommend this & other books by Stephen Kinzer. And if you are feeling intrepid, I also recommend a visit to Iran, with the Iranian people among the most hospitable I have ever experienced. 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. Regarding US policy as it developed towards Iran in the early 1950s, the book portrays it as having been variously driven by the fear of annoying the British, an attempt to be an honest broker, or an effort to stop the spread of Communism. The fact, stated at the end of the book, that US companies were granted the majority of the oil concessions from the Shah's government after the coup, does not feature significantly in the earlier part of the narrative.

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) In the penultimate chapter, we finally get to the second stage of the coup. This section, like the first chapter, is again drawn from the memoirs of Kermit Roosevelt. Like the first chapter, the absence of detail cripples this chapter and I’m not convinced that the coup succeeded because of Roosevelt and CIA agents.aIran |0https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n79039880 |xRelations |0https://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh00007590 |zUnited States. |0https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n78095330-781 The intervention and military involvement of the US stemmed from sour Iranian-US relations, communist fears and economic interests. Mossadegh argued vehemently that the US “once upheld moral principles but was wilting in the face of British pressure” (100). As Eisenhower was elected into office, he willingly accepted involvement on behalf of GB. Not only would this aid their Atlantic counterpart, help stop the potential spread of communism but also gain entry into the middle-east’s lucrative oil industry. Consequently, while the first coup failed, the team of CIA agents as well as Brits was successful four days later (166). They utilized propaganda, the press and local mobs to encourage domestic instability in Iran. As the streets were turned into battlegrounds for a new leader to come in, the CIA succeeded and Mossadegh was forced into house arrest for the remainder of his life. A Quasi-Victory for America

All the Shah's Men)‏ عنوان کتابی از خبرنگار امریکایی استیون کینزر است. این کتاب کودتای ۲۸ مرداد را در قالب روایتی داستانی و رمان‌گونه مورد بررسی قرار می‌دهد.But this book seems to have its good guys and bad guys: the story goes that the magnificent "reforming" "democratic" leader of Iran Mohammed Mossadegh was overthrown solely by the evil CIA in the 1950s and put in place the "evil" "autocratic" and "unpopular" Shah who was overthrown in 1979 by the masses of Iran yearning to be free. That the past is prolog is especially true in this astonishing account of the 1953 overthrow of nationalist Iranian leader Mohammed Mossadegh, who became prime minister in 1951 and immediately nationalized the Anglo–Iranian Oil Company. This act angered the British, who sought assistance from the United States in overthrowing Mossedegh′s fledgling democracy. Kermit Roosevelt, Teddy′s grandson, led the successful coup in August 1953, which ended in the reestablishment of the Iranian monarchy in the person of Mohammad Reza Shah. Iranian anger at this foreign intrusion smoldered until the 1979 revolution. Meanwhile, over the next decade, the United States successfully overthrew other governments, such as that of Guatemala. Kinzer, a New York Times correspondent who has also written about the 1954 Guatemala coup ( Bitter Fruit: The Story of the American Coup in Guatemala), tells his captivating tale with style and verve. This book leads one to wonder how many of our contemporary problems in the Middle East may have resulted from this covert CIA adventure. Recommended for all collections. Ed Goedeken, Iowa S tate Univ. Lib., Ames ( Library Journal, June 15, 2003) Less flattering is portrayal of the Iranian monarchy. But it is the British that leave the worst impression in this

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 In the fabled history of the coup, from such incapacity the CIA developed a resilient network that easily toppled a popular leader a few months later. Why did you Americans do that terrible thing?" a relative of Mossadegh demands of Kinzer. "We always loved America. To us, America was the great country, the perfect country, the country that helped us while other countries were exploiting us. But after that moment, no one in Iran ever trusted the United States again. I can tell you for sure that if you had not done that thing, you would never have had that problem of hostages being taken in your embassy in Tehran. All your trouble started in 1953. Why, why did you do it?" And what a towering historic figure Mohammad Mossadeq was. Although, to be precise, his “historic persona” is what is towering, since he’s been romanticized into something like a movie star. However, the real man, as it clearly transpires from even just this book, was an uncompromising, deceitful and obsessive guy who with his rigidity put the people of his country at serious risk various times. That is not what a “great politician” does. 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.The communist takeover of China and the Korean War changed the way America viewed Iran. Foreign policy was now cast in terms of the Cold War. Still President Truman and Secretary of State Dean Acheson remained anti-colonial. They refused to support Britain’s hardline stand and proposals for direct intervention in Iran. Acheson sent his assistant secretary George McGhee to Iran then followed up with the experienced Averill Harriman to try to negotiate a peaceful resolution. Despite the persistent effort of both men the British and Iranians remained intransigent. Iran took over the oilfields but had no capacity to run them. The British had never trained the Iranian workers who lived in abject poverty. Britain pulled out all its management and technicians and production stopped. Kinzer has a real gift to write history that is deep, accurate and, at the same time, as gripping as a novel. Dogged original research and superb narrative skills come together in this gripping account of pitiless evil.