Books > Social sciences > Politics & government > Political activism > Revolutions & coups
|
Not currently available
The Unthinkable Revolution in Iran (Hardcover)
Loot Price: R694
Discovery Miles 6 940
|
|
The Unthinkable Revolution in Iran (Hardcover)
Supplier out of stock. If you add this item to your wish list we will let you know when it becomes available.
|
The Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, would remain on the throne
for the foreseeable future: This was the firm conclusion of a
top-secret CIA analysis issued in October 1978. One hundred days
later the shah - despite his massive military, fearsome security
police, and superpower support - was overthrown by a popular and
largely peaceful revolution. But the CIA was not alone in its
myopia, as Charles Kurzman reveals in this penetrating work;
Iranians themselves, except for a tiny minority, considered a
revolution inconceivable until it actually occurred. Revisiting the
circumstances surrounding the fall of the shah, Kurzman offers rare
insight into the nature and evolution of the Iranian revolution -
and into the ultimate unpredictability of protest movements in
general. As one Iranian recalls, "The future was up in the air" -
and through interviews and eyewitness accounts, declassified
security documents and underground pamphlets, Kurzman documents the
overwhelming sense of confusion that gripped pre-revolutionary
Iran, and that characterises major protest movements. His book
provides a striking picture of the chaotic conditions under which
Iranians acted, participating in protest only when they expected
others to do so too, the process approaching critical mass in
unforeseen and unforeseeable ways. Only when large numbers of
Iranians began to "think the unthinkable," in the words of the U.S.
ambassador, did revolutionary expectations become a self-fulfilling
prophecy. A corrective to 20-20 hindsight, this book reveals
shortcomings of analyses that make the Iranian revolution - or any
major protest movement - seem inevitable in retrospect.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
|
|
Email address subscribed successfully.
A activation email has been sent to you.
Please click the link in that email to activate your subscription.