King of Kings

The Iranian Revolution was one of the most momentous events of the Twentieth Century, one whose reverberations continue to shape the Middle East. In this highly readable and probing book, Scott Anderson revisits the events of that critical year, and draws on previously unknown information to chart the course of events that made what seemed improbable to become inevitable: the fall of the monarchy before a triumphant revolution.

Vali Nasr, Professor of International Affairs and Middle East Studies at the School of Advanced Studies of Johns Hopkins University and the author of Iran’s Grand Strategy: A Political History

Anderson’s brilliant new account of the events leading to the shah’s fall is both masterful and mesmerizing. With bracing clarity, drawing from interviews with direct participants, King of Kings shows senior Iranian and U.S. officials sleepwalking into a disaster with global consequences—and one that was far from inevitable. A must-read for anyone looking to understand the origins of the Middle East’s most dangerous regime.

Joby Warrick, author of Black Flags: The Rise of ISIS, winner of the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction

Instantly absorbing, King of Kings is an exhilarating plunge into the psychology of unchecked power, which secludes, blinds, and ultimately betrays its holders. Anderson is a master of the telling detail; he gives us lessons not only from the Shah’s undoing but also from Washington’s weakness for rigid assumptions—until history, as it so often does, shatters the illusion of control.

Evan Osnos, author of the National Book Award winner Age of Ambition

Masterful and gripping ... Taking us inside the fortified walls of the shah’s palaces, King of Kings lays bare the folly and hubris that led to the shah’s demise, the hostage crisis and a radical theocracy that would reshape the Middle East.

Rajiv Chandrasekaran, author of National Book Award finalist Imperial Life in The Emerald City

A riveting, masterfully told account of how the Shah’s downfall became a tragic turning point in history, as America stumbled blindly into a long and costly conflict that shadows the Middle East to this day. A must-read... urgent and unforgettable.

Steve Coll, Pulitzer Prize winning author of Ghost Wars

Thrilling and fully authoritative... this is the gold standard account of the Shah’s fall, with fresh dramatic tales and arresting details from the last living players. An epic and heart-breaking tragedy

Azadeh Moaveni, author of Guest House for Young Widows

King of Kings chronicles the fall of Iran's Shah—a man feared by many but understood by few. This account examines how hubris, Cold War tensions, and revolutionary fervor toppled a monarchy whose ruler pursued modernization while remaining fatally disconnected from his people, the shockwaves of which still reverberate through international relations today

Bradley Hope, bestselling co-author of Billion Dollar Whale and Blood and Oil

Forensically reported and deeply researched, King of Kings is a brilliantly absorbing, page-turning account of the Iranian Revolution. Scott Anderson is one of the very best narrative historians writing today

Wendell Steavenson, author of The Weight of a Mustard Seed

Scott Anderson vividly describes, in unerringly forensic detail, how American foreign policy makers completely misread - as indeed they continue to misread - the Middle East and all its complexities, with consequences that reverberate to this day.

Diana Darke, author of Stealing from the Saracens

King of Kings delivers remarkable new insights into one of history’s least understood upheavals – the Iranian revolution. Rich in detail and gripping portraits of the individuals at the heart of the tragedy, this book gets to the essence of how this unique revolution succeeded — and why it cannot be replicated

Kim Ghattas, author of Black Wave

Anderson uses his incomparable prose to crack open the deep story behind one of the most momentous events of the last decades. An important and riveting book’

Sebastian Junger, author of The Perfect Storm

Written with a journalist’s instincts and the plotlines of a thriller, King of Kings is the most compelling account yet of the revolution in Iran – an event so significant that it continues to shape world affairs today. An outstanding book

Eugene Rogan, author of The Fall of the Ottomans

This absorbing account of the 1979 Iranian revolution unravels the story of how the nation's seemingly invulnerable leader, Shah Pahlavi, was forced into exile, and the ensuring hostage crisis that rattled American confidence and singed its reputation in the Middle East

New York Times

Riveting... an illuminating, operatic depiction of the revolution as a farcical cavalcade of arrogant mistakes with dire consequences.

Publishers Weekly

Scott Anderson’s tale of Iranian intrigue has it all: obtuse Americans, out-of-touch autocrats, media-savvy revolutionaries—and plenty of lessons for today... A compelling tale of the kind of diplomatic disaster that emerges from a uniquely American combination of arrogance and ignorance.

Zora O'Neill, author of All Strangers Are Kin

Fascinating... [Anderson] displays a masterly understanding of the politics of the region, and a fine judgement on Lawrence himself... first-rate... A highly intelligent contribution to the Lawrence literature

Max Hastings, Sunday Times on Lawrence in Arabia

Gripping... Anderson's version of the story is a brilliantly pulled-off piece of narrative history that demonstrates both why Lawrence continues to grip our imagination and why he can be a deeply problematic lens through which to examine the tensions of the Middle East

William Dalrymple, New Statesman on Lawrence in Arabia

Tremendous... [Anderson] has written a masterpiece of detachment about a subject that defies easy acceptance, and made of it a work of tantalising fascination.

Jan Morris, Daily Telegraph on Lawrence in Arabia

This absorbing account of the 1979 Iranian revolution unravels the story of how the nation's seemingly invulnerable leader, Shah Pahlavi, was forced into exile, and the ensuring hostage crisis that rattled American confidence and singed its reputation in the Middle East

New York Times