Books by Scott Anderson
King of Kings: The Fall of the Shah, the 1979 Iranian Revolution and the Unmaking of the Modern Middle East
by Scott Anderson
King of Kings is by Scott Anderson, author of an excellent biography of T.E. Lawrence, Lawrence in Arabia. In King of Kings, Anderson tells the story of the Iranian Revolution by focusing on the actions of three key players: Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Shah himself; Jimmy Carter, the American president; and Ruhollah Khomeini, a cleric who did not like the Shah's secular reforms. The book feels quite close up and personal: Anderson's own memories of the Shah's visit to D.C. to meet Carter (he ended up getting hit by a demonstrator), and interviews with people who were there. Two interesting points the book dwells on: firstly, how different the Middle East looked with Iran as a close US ally, and secondly, the extent to which the Iranian Revolution was a big surprise to almost everyone, including Khomeini himself.
Interviews where books by Scott Anderson were recommended
-
1
King of Kings: The Fall of the Shah, the 1979 Iranian Revolution and the Unmaking of the Modern Middle East
by Scott Anderson -
2
The First King of England: Æthelstan and the Birth of a Kingdom
by David Woodman -
3
The Mission: The CIA in the 21st Century
by Tim Weiner -
4
The Library of Ancient Wisdom: Mesopotamia and the Making of the Modern World
by Selena Wisnom -
5
The Devil Reached Toward the Sky: An Oral History of the Making and Unleashing of the Atomic Bomb
by Garrett Graff -
6
The Age of Choice: A History of Freedom in Modern Life
by Sophia Rosenfeld
New History Books
New History Books
It’s a golden age for historical writing, as well-researched and sometimes quite specialist books by historians are written in an engaging style for a broad audience. History books out in recent months range from ancient Assyria to the CIA in the 21st century.
