Welcome to the first RM Book of the Month discussion. Our first selection is All The Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror by Stephen Kinzer.
The following is a brief synopsis from Publishers Weekly:
Quote:
With breezy storytelling and diligent research, Kinzer has reconstructed the CIA's 1953 overthrow of the elected leader of Iran, Mohammad Mossadegh, who was wildly popular at home for having nationalized his country's oil industry. The coup ushered in the long and brutal dictatorship of Mohammad Reza Shah, widely seen as a U.S. puppet and himself overthrown by the Islamic revolution of 1979. At its best this work reads like a spy novel, with code names and informants, midnight meetings with the monarch and a last-minute plot twist when the CIA's plan, called Operation Ajax, nearly goes awry. A veteran New York Times foreign correspondent and the author of books on Nicaragua (Blood of Brothers) and Turkey (Crescent and Star), Kinzer has combed memoirs, academic works, government documents and news stories to produce this blow-by-blow account. He shows that until early in 1953, Great Britain and the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company were the imperialist baddies of this tale. Intransigent in the face of Iran's demands for a fairer share of oil profits and better conditions for workers, British Foreign Secretary Herbert Morrison exacerbated tension with his attitude that the challenge from Iran was, in Kinzer's words, "a simple matter of ignorant natives rebelling against the forces of civilization." Before the crisis peaked, a high-ranking employee of Anglo-Iranian wrote to a superior that the company's alliance with the "corrupt ruling classes" and "leech-like bureaucracies" were "disastrous, outdated and impractical." This stands as a textbook lesson in how not to conduct foreign policy. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
_________________ "Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires." -- John Steinbeck
Anybody start the book yet? I read the prologue last night. That's it so far.
_________________ "Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires." -- John Steinbeck
Joined: Wed Dec 13, 2006 4:37 am Posts: 3610 Location: London, UK Gender: Female
I'm about a third of the way through. it's not exactly told linearly timewise, there's a bit of jumping back and forth telling the back story of people/countries involved.
_________________ 2009 was a great year for PJ gigs looking forward to 2010 and: Columbus, Noblesville, Cleveland, Buffalo, Dublin, Belfast, London, Nijmegen, Berlin, Arras, Werchter, Lisbon, some more US (wherever is the Anniversary show/a birthday show)
If you did the free Super Saver shipping apparently they hold the item a couple of days "to get the cheapest shipping possible." My last two items have taken awhile after having always arrived very quickly.
_________________ "Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires." -- John Steinbeck
So what did you guys think of the prologue? It felt more like an extended anti-war op/ed piece than an intro to a book. I'm hoping the rest of the book doesn't feel the same way. It was certainly thought provoking though.
_________________ "Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires." -- John Steinbeck
Joined: Sun May 21, 2006 2:02 am Posts: 91597 Location: Sector 7-G
aprilfifth wrote:
cutuphalfdead wrote:
Amazon is fucking slow at getting this to me.
If you did the free Super Saver shipping apparently they hold the item a couple of days "to get the cheapest shipping possible." My last two items have taken awhile after having always arrived very quickly.
That's what I did.
_________________ It takes a big man to make a threat on the internet.
Yeah that's what I always have done and its always been great. But for this book, and then for Tiger Woods 10, its been very slow. It took between 5-7 days for it to ship. In the past it took literally half an hour and my order was filled. Once I accidently ordered a hardcover version of the book. I got the email confirmation, noticed that and went to change the order but it was already filled. I guess that won't be happening anymore.
_________________ "Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires." -- John Steinbeck
Yeah that's what I always have done and its always been great. But for this book, and then for Tiger Woods 10, its been very slow. It took between 5-7 days for it to ship. In the past it took literally half an hour and my order was filled. Once I accidently ordered a hardcover version of the book. I got the email confirmation, noticed that and went to change the order but it was already filled. I guess that won't be happening anymore.
super saver shipping has been very slow for me as well lately, it used to come within 5 business days or so.
Joined: Sun Oct 24, 2004 3:38 pm Posts: 20059 Gender: Male
aprilfifth wrote:
So what did you guys think of the prologue? It felt more like an extended anti-war op/ed piece than an intro to a book. I'm hoping the rest of the book doesn't feel the same way. It was certainly thought provoking though.
i think the conclusion is similar (though i haven't gotten there yet, it seems like it said that on amazon or somewhere), but the core of the book is just a good narrative so far. i enjoyed the prologue for what it was, although i wouldn't have enjoyed a book full of it necessarily.
_________________ stop light plays its part, so I would say you've got a part
They must be trying to get us to stop using that and upgrade to Amazon Prime.
_________________ "Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires." -- John Steinbeck
Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2004 10:53 pm Posts: 20537 Location: The City Of Trees
You guys will have to tell me what you learned from this book that you didn't know otherwise. The synposis posted doesn't really tell me anything I didn't know already.
You guys will have to tell me what you learned from this book that you didn't know otherwise. The synposis posted doesn't really tell me anything I didn't know already.
I've been familiar with the skeleton of the story for awhile, but as is the case with much of my knowledge of the region I don't know too much more, at least until the Iranian Revolution in 1979 comes along.
_________________ "Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires." -- John Steinbeck
Joined: Wed Dec 13, 2006 4:37 am Posts: 3610 Location: London, UK Gender: Female
aprilfifth wrote:
cutuphalfdead wrote:
Amazon is fucking slow at getting this to me.
If you did the free Super Saver shipping apparently they hold the item a couple of days "to get the cheapest shipping possible." My last two items have taken awhile after having always arrived very quickly.
I generally got my free shipping as fast as if I'd paid the normal rate actually (well, I NEVER paid the full rate, but there's not much way they could have got it faster.. except I did the premium as a try and the stupid courier brought it to the wrong site so it took longer to get than regular mail )
cutuphalfdead wrote:
I'll be reading this coming in with almost no knowledge of the subject matter.
same here.
the one thing (having now reached the half point) that's bothering me so far is the apparent complete lack of UK-side input. and not just being biased (I can totally reckon when Euros are being dicks believe me! esp the 'imperial' bullshit) but there's seem to be no pov from the UK at all.. all just Iranian and US.
_________________ 2009 was a great year for PJ gigs looking forward to 2010 and: Columbus, Noblesville, Cleveland, Buffalo, Dublin, Belfast, London, Nijmegen, Berlin, Arras, Werchter, Lisbon, some more US (wherever is the Anniversary show/a birthday show)
Joined: Mon Oct 18, 2004 5:51 am Posts: 17078 Location: TX
I don't think I'm going to participate in this. I'm going to be a lot busier in July than I was in June. Plus, this topic doesn't really interest me very much and the book itself doesn't appeal to me. I'll probably keep up with this thread, though.
I read the first chapter last night. It reads like a spy novel which is good and bad I think. Its good because it is well written and exciting, so it should definitely be a page-turner; bad because it looks like it might be a more narrow look at the topic than I was hoping for. We'll see I guess.
_________________ "Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires." -- John Steinbeck
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My last two items have taken awhile after having always arrived very quickly.
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