In the course of describing his own experiences at the time of the Iranian revolution when the last Shah, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, was deposed, Kapuscinski provides a plausible explanation for the revolution. Using an idiosyncratic mix of history, encounters with local people and his own experience of other coups and revolutions (this was the 27th personally experienced) Kapuscinski demonstrates that the revolution was unavoidable because of the flaws in the relationship between the Shah and his people. Detailed description of the working of the Shah's secret police, SAVAK, epitomize the atmosphere of mistrust prior to the revolution and have been seen as analogous to the KGB in Kapuscinski's native Poland. Characterization of the Shah's attempt to create a modern civilization in the country as a rejected transplant neatly brings home the nature of the failure. Identification of the mosque as the stable element in the confusing environment of transplanted change clarifies the strength of the appeal of Khomeini to the masses.
The book remains relevant because it is more than just an account of the revolution in Iran, as Kapuscinski identifies that crucial moment when a revolution takes place, the moment when fear is conquered: "The man has stopped being afraid - and this is precisely the beginning of the revolution." This and his reflections on the aftermath of the revolution, the committees of "bearded, barely literate oafs" and the resulting revolutionary cycle are of more general application. Other memorable passages include his reflections on oil - "a filthy, foul-smelling liquid that squirts obligingly up into the air and falls back to earth as a rustling shower of money."
While Kapuscinski's literary reportage has been criticized as less or more than the whole truth, he certainly manages to convey an understanding of the processes of revolution to a distant readership.

The source material was familiar. Robert Fisk afforded a harrowing account of the SAVAK and their grip on the people of Iran. Kapuściński couches the revolutionary groundwell in almost poetic terms. The Shah's callous myopia is presented with aplomb. This torrent of elements is conveyed within the jagged continuity of its time. And with success, I hasten to add.

Moving explanations and observations.

La caduta dello Sha di Persia e l'acesa al potere degli Ayatollah fino alla creazione della Repubblica Islamica.
Attraverso la memoria di uno dei più grandi giornalisti mai vissuti, l'analisi sociopolitica di quel che fu e di quel che è stato, con molti indizi su quel che sta accadendo e accadrà.
Un libro che consiglio a tutti coloro che sono assolutamente convinti della bontà delle loro scelte.

The story of the last Shah of Iran from the poetic pen of Ryszard Kapuściński.

۷۰ صفحه اول کتاب رو با صدای بلند برای مامانم خوندم. لحظات خوشی داشتم، گرچه غمگین و پر از شک بودم. اونقدر اطلاعات ندارم که بتونم با قطعیت بگم نه، اینطور نیست؛ اما خیلی جاهای کتاب بنظرم واقعا مغرضانه و افراطی می‌اومد. گرچه در زمانی که این کتاب نوشته شده، در حال و هوای انقلاب، غیر از این هم انتظار نمی‌ره... اما باز هم گاهی اعصابم خورد می‌شد.
اما نثرش خیلی جذاب بود. داستانی. پرکشش!