From Palace to Prison: Inside the Iranian Revolution

by Ehsan Naraghi

Overview

An unusual and illuminating account of the Iranian revolution of 1979, based upon the author's long conversations with the Shah in the weeks before his downfall, and upon his own 33-month experience in prison—the first testimony to come from a survivor of the Islamic republic's jails.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781566637671
Publisher:	Dee, Ivan R. Publisher
Publication date:	04/27/2007
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	301
Sales rank:	1,109,365
Product dimensions:	6.07(w) x 9.06(h) x 0.83(d)

About the Author

Ehsan Naraghi founded Teheran University’s respected Institute of Social Studies and Research in the early 1960s, later moved to UNESCO, and returned to Iran in 1975 to become director of the Institute of Research and Planning in Science and Education. He now lives and works in Paris.

What People are Saying About This

Richard N. Frye

Unique and fascinating...a book by a compassionate and understanding observer. This account will be long remembered.—
— Emeritus Professor of Iranian Studies, Harvard University.

Mohammed Arkoun

Naraghi seeks the truth in the most dangerous places, shakes the conscience, and enlightens the world.

Editorial Reviews

A moving account...Naraghi analyzes without rancor the vast fresco of Iranian society.

Le Monde - Paul Balta

Naraghi seeks the truth in the most dangerous places, shakes the conscience, and enlightens the world.

Mohammed Arkoun

A moving account...Naraghi analyzes without rancor the vast fresco of Iranian society.
— Le Monde

E. Balta

On September 28, 1978, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last shah of Iran, summoned the author, a prominent Iranian sociologist, to the palace in Teheran to ask for his analysis of the current political situation. ``Where does this rebellion and spreading agitation originate? Who instigated it? Who is sustaining this process? Who triggered this religious movement?'' Naraghi's daring answer, ``You yourself, Majesty,'' led to a series of conversations in which the author was given the opportunity to explain to the shah why he was considered an enemy of the people and what, if anything, could be done about it. In Naraghi's reconstruction, the eight meetings held during the final year of the shah's reign constitute a portrait of a national leader who was deaf to criticism and blind to reality. After the shah's flight into exile in February 1979, Naraghi was arrested and held for nearly three years in the notorious Evin Prison by followers of the Ayatollah Khomeini. His account of this experience makes up the second half of this compelling memoir. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

This highly readable book is written from the perspective of an Iranian intellectual who observed the Shah's behavior firsthand during the last months of the Pahlavi monarchy. The first part of the book is devoted to a detailed description of Naraghi's conversations with the Shah, which took place in the midst of the revolutionary upheaval in mid- to late 1978. These conversations reveal vividly the Shah's mindset during this turbulent period. The second half of the book deals with the author's imprisonment following the Iranian Revolution of 1978-79. In this part, Naraghi seeks to explain not only his own personal plight but also the complex and competing views of various administrative and judicial authorities of the new Iranian regime. Recommended for students of modern Middle East politics and informed general readers.-- Nader Entessar, Spring Hill Coll., Mobile, Ala.

Library Journal

Naraghi, a prominent Iranian-born sociologist now lives in Paris and works for UNESCO. He recounts his long conversations with the Shah in the weeks before the revolution, and then his 33-month experience in the Islamic Republic's prisons. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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