Patriot of Persia: Muhammad Mossadegh and a Tragic Anglo-American Coup

This book relates the life and overthrow of Muhammad Mossadegh, the democratically elected Prime Minister of Iran in August 1953.The book is interesting in that it analyses the life and career of Mossadegh in forensic detail, and in doing so tells us much about the history, politics and social customs of Iran between the turn of the century and 1960. The book is a highly valuable piece of work mainly for this reason. Despite having to grapple with a host of Iranian names and characters I felt I had learnt a lot about the country and could appreciate better why modern Iran adopted some of its present postures.I remain unconvinced that the coup that took place, which is described in moment by moment detail, was actually Anglo-American. Whilst British diplomats certainly frequently expressed their desire to be rid of Mossadegh because of his intransigence in negotiations over the British restarting of oil extraction and refining facilities at Abadan after nationalisation by the Mossadegh government, that does not make them co-conspirators. As far as I can understand from the evidence presented by the author, no British diplomats or agents were in Tehran at the time of the coup. It appears to me to be an entirely American affair, and they were certainly short term beneficiaries from the restoration of the Shah and his subsequent dictatorship. American companies were subsequently heavily involved in the Iranian oil business. The coup was in line with the Dulles-Eisenhower policy of the time to combat the perceived threat of communism on all fronts. Certainly, the chaos promoted by the actions of Mossadegh facilitated a much more prominent role for the Tudeh (Communist) Party and its Soviet backers in Iran which would have been a cause for alarm.The book is clearly the result of copious research and for the most part reads well. However, the story of the premiership of Mossadegh can become a little tedious as he was a difficult and infuriating politician to deal with and it is a tale of frequent lost opportunities. Probably the benchmark work in English on Mossadegh and recommended for all interested in the history and background of modern Iran.

de Bellaigue has written an exceptional book. Although there's a good bit about the coup that took down Mossadegh, the book's focus is greater than that. It serves as a lesson on Iranian politics from the 30's to the 50's and it gives a good glimpse of life and politics at the time.The British do not, of course, come out of it looking good, neither do the Americans, who even going against the advice of some of its own more enlightened foreign service men, lets the British fool them into a coup that did not benefit American interests. That it later led to the '79 Revolution and the Iran of today is even more tragic. It also helps the reader who does not know the real history of the area to understand the deep mistrust and oftentimes hatred of the US and the UK that can be found in some Iranian circles. Sometimes is hard to think them wrong. It is tragic to see that had the US taken a different path, the history of the Middle East could have been different.BUT, and it's a big but, de Bellaigue does not tell an one-sided story. He criticizes Mossadegh on many occasions and points out on others how his behavior helped, in the end, the positions taken by the US and the British. Had he been more politically able on the international scene, he could have helped his cause a lot.So it is a balanced book, which gives praise and criticism on the right places. It does not make an excuse for anything that came after or during that time. That the author has real experience living in Tehran is a welcome bonus, since some books about this period have been written by people with fairly limited real experience of Iran.It is a recommended reading for today, since Iran is back on the news for the wrong reasons and it, at least, shows the reader that meddling in other countries carries long term consequences that can hardly be foreseen. It is also a tale of how a country can do something so contrary to it's values and principles (the US and UK) while the 'victim' also fumbles the ball and helps the cause against it, sometimes out of political ineptitude. A sad, but real and very interesting tale.

A timely book on the dispicable interference by the West on Iran and the role of Britain in maligning an honourable and patriotic man who championed his country's independence.

An interestingly written book about an interesting man. I had not come across the history of Iran from this period before.

A biography of this eccentric but thoroughly democratic Persian politician. Interesting, but I was left wanting to know more about the man.

Very good book for those interested on the history of Iran

This book is great to learn about such a crucial figure in iranian modern history