Patriot of Persia
  • Published: 15 February 2013
  • ISBN: 9780099540489
  • Imprint: Vintage
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 336
  • RRP: $27.99
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Patriot of Persia

Muhammad Mossadegh and a Very British Coup

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A brilliant biography of one of the great political eccentrics of modern times - Muhammad Mossadegh

On 19 August 1953 the British and American intelligence agencies launched a desperate coup against a cussed, bedridden 72-year-old. His name was Muhammad Mossadegh, the Iranian prime minister. To Winston Churchill he was a lunatic, determined to humiliate Britain. To President Eisenhower he was delivering Iran to the Soviets. Mossadegh must go.

And so he did, in one of the most dramatic episodes in modern Middle Eastern history. But the countries that overthrew him would, in time, deeply regret it. Mossadegh was one of the first liberals of the Middle East, a man whose conception of liberty was as sophisticated as any in Europe or America. He wanted friendship with the West - not slavish dependence.

Here, for the first time, is the political and personal life of a remarkable patriot, written by our foremost observer of Iran. Above all, the life of Muhammad Mossadegh is a warning to today's occupants of Downing Street and the White House, as they commit us all to intervention in a volatile and unpredictable region.
  • Published: 15 February 2013
  • ISBN: 9780099540489
  • Imprint: Vintage
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 336
  • RRP: $27.99
Categories:
Share…

About the author

Christopher de Bellaigue

Christopher de Bellaigue was born in London in 1971, and was educated at Cambridge University, where he read Iranian and Indian Studies. Between 1995 and 2007, he lived and worked as a journalist in south Asia and the Middle East, writing for The Economist, Guardian and the New York Review of Books. He is the award-winning author of four books and has made several BBC television and radio programmes. He lives in London.

Also by Christopher de Bellaigue

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The Islamic Enlightenment
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Praise for Patriot of Persia

[It] is about a wildly popular figure who promised Iran's future would not be dependent on paying homage to the west: Mohammed Mossadegh, who was brutally removed from power in a coup orchestrated by the CIA in 1953. De Bellaigue is an outstanding journalist and you can tell why

Peter Frankopan, History Today

Compelling

Max Hastings, Sunday Times

De Bellaigue portrays some fascinating, and often farcical, stories of political life in Iran

Independent

Excellent

Charles Glass, Spectator

A rich and timely immersion

David Gardner, Financial Times

De Bellaigue's book is unsurpassed as a rounded portrait of Mossadegh

Times Literary Supplement

A vivid, informed portrait of Iran’s liberal, nationalist, eccentric prime minister… it illuminates a complex country and its distrust in the West

Holly Kyte, Sunday Telegraph (Seven)

The author shows his intimate understanding and knowledge of of Middle Eastern politics… A timely warning of the consequences of Western intervention

Big Issue in the North