All the Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror by Stephen Kinzer

Hailed as "a very gripping read" by The New York Times and selected as one of the best books of the year by the Washington Post and The Economist, this national bestseller brings to life the 1953 CIA coup in Iran that ousted the country’s elected prime minister and features a brand new preface by the author on the folly of attacking Iran.

As zealots in Washington intensify their preparations for an American attack on Iran, the story of the CIA’s 1953 coup—with its many cautionary lessons—is more urgently relevant than ever. All the Shah’s Men brings to life the cloak-and-dagger operation that deposed the only democratic regime Iran ever had. The coup ushered in a quarter-century of repressive rule under the Shah, stimulated the rise of Muslim fundamentalism and anti-Americanism throughout the Middle East, and exposed the folly of using violence to try to reshape Iran. It’s essential reading if you want to place the American invasion of Iraq in context—and prepare for what comes next.

“An entirely engrossing, often riveting, nearly Homeric tale. . . . For anyone with more than a passing interest in how the United States got into such a pickle in the Middle East, All the Shah’s Men is as good as Grisham.” —THE WASHINGTON POST BOOK WORLD

“An exciting narrative. [Kinzer] questions whether Americans are well served by interventions for regime change abroad, and he reminds us of the long history of Iranian resistance to great power interventions, as well as the unanticipated consequences of intervention.”—THE LOS ANGELES TIMES

“A swashbuckling yarn [and] helpful reminder of an oft-neglected piece of Middle Eastern history.”—THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW