The Fall of Heaven

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The Fall of Heaven: The Pahlavis and the Final Days of Imperial Iran
Henry Holt and Co.
Publication date
2016
Pages608

The Fall of Heaven: The Pahlavis and the Final Days of Imperial Iran is a 2016 book by Andrew Scott Cooper. It documents the

Shah of Iran
.

Cooper stated that the person who succeeded Pahlavi as Iran's ruler, Ruhollah Khomeini, unfairly tainted Pahlavi's image and that the shah was a "benevolent autocrat".[1] The book's primary audience is the lay public rather than academics.[2] Cooper stated that The Fall of Heaven "is not intended as the final word on Mohammad Reza Shah or the 1979 revolution — far from it".[3]

Background

Andrew Scott Cooper, born in

London School of Economics and Political Science stated that his lack of Persian fluency made it easy for his interviewees to manipulate him.[3]

Content

Brent G. stated that the author describes

Musa Sadr would have been a good leader of Islamic moderates in Iran.[3]

Reception

Alvandi stated that the book is a "refreshingly revisionist account".[3]

Washington Times that the book "is thoroughly researched and documented" and "is also highly readable and does justice to the tragic grandeur of his subject."[6]

Charmaine Chan of the South China Morning Post ranked the book four of five stars and described it as "a page-turner, especially when it relives the day-by-day events leading to the shah’s flight to exile."[1]

David Holahan of the USA Today ranked the book three and one half of four stars.[7]

Publishers Weekly described it as "a fascinating, distinctive, and personal account of the Shah and his rule."[8]

Jay Freeman of Booklist stated that the book "is a fine revisionist study".[9]

Brent G. concluded that the book "is more nuanced and balanced than most other Shah biographies to date" although he believed it was inferior to The Shah by Abbas Milani.[5] He stated had "excessive" positive statements about Pahlavi and that sections of the initial chapters "read like a panegyric he might have drafted to convince [members of Pahlavi's family and government] to lend him their time and memories."[5]

References

  • Alvandi, Roham (Winter 2017). "The Fall of Heaven: The Pahlavis and the Final Days of Imperial Iran by Andrew Scott Cooper (review)".
    The Middle East Institute
    : 155–156.

Reference notes

  1. ^ a b c d Chan, Charmaine (2016-09-02). "Book review: a revisionist take on the last shah of Iran". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 2018-11-29.
  2. ^ Alvandi, p. 155.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Alvandi, p. 156.
  4. Washington Post
    . Retrieved 2018-11-29.
  5. ^
    Center for the Study of Intelligence, Central Intelligence Agency. Archived from the original
    on September 11, 2017. Retrieved 2018-11-29.
  6. Washington Times
    . Retrieved 2018-11-29.
  7. ^ Holahan, David (2016-08-25). "Book sheds new light on Shah of Iran's last days". USA Today. Retrieved 2018-11-29.
  8. ^ "The Fall of Heaven: The Pahlavis and the Final Days of Imperial Iran". Publishers Weekly. 2016-05-30. Retrieved 2018-11-29.
  9. ^ Freeman, Jay (2016-06-01). "The Fall of Heaven: The Pahlavis and the Final Days of Imperial Iran". Booklist: 24–25 (cited, p. 25). - Printed on June 1 and 15, 2016

External links

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