The Priest and the King: An Eyewitness Account of the Iranian Revolution [Paperback]

Desmond Harney (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1860643744 | ISBN-13: 978-1860643743 | Publication Date: January 15, 1999

Desmond Harney, a former British diplomat charged with political reporting, was living in Tehran in 1979 at the time of the Revolution. He felt compelled to keep a day-to-day record of the events he was witnessing around him as the priest and the king--the Ayatollah Khomeini and the Shah of Iran--squared off against each other. The result is this stunning first-hand account of one of the 20th century's most momentous episodes.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Captures with a wonderful sense of immediacy the excitement and bewilderment of those days.” —Gary Sick, editor, The Persian Gulf in the New Millennium

“[An] extraordinary and riveting diary of events that led to the Shah's overthrow...Harney conveys superbly the ups and downs, the rumours and speculations, the paranoia...as the old order was undermined.” —William Shawcross, The Sunday Times (London)

About the Author

Desmond Harney lived for more than a decade in Iran, both as a senior British diplomat and as a banker. He currently lives in London.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: I. B. Tauris (January 15, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1860643744
• ISBN-13: 978-1860643743
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,751,552 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Detailed Day To Day Account of a Tragedy, November 24, 2008

By 

Alex Sheibani "Alex Shey" (Orlando, Florida, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Priest and the King: An Eyewitness Account of the Iranian Revolution (Paperback)

This book is very useful in gaining a picture of what happened and was going on day to day in 1979. It is very truthful from the perspective of the author, interesting and clearly makes no conclusions just observations.

It's now 2009 now and after 30 years Iranians still have no clue what they did. A little heart felt wisdom would have really helped Iranians so much. After reading this book and speaking with many Iranians, I think they would be well advised to become educated regarding the definition of words. Dictator would be the first word I would encourage every person to learn the meaning of.

Dictators don't make their decisions based on the advice of the consensus of their team like the shah did, they aren't primarily focused on increasing the freedom of those they serve like the shah did (according to Aristotle they serve their own good only), so dictators don't pay for the living expenses and university education of over 100,000 Iranians that studied in the US and Europe. Dictators don't center their entire lives on helping people have the possibility to enhance their lives for example by growing the Iranian economy to 5 times that of Turkeys in 1979 (unlike today where it's economy is only 40% the size of Turkeys after 3 trillion dollars in Oil Revenue).

Dictators do build 100,000 square feet palaces for themselves. Saddam built over 20 in just 30 years and the shah didn't even build one. Hitler even had an eagles nest commissioned.

I guess between building mines, steel mills, hospitals, public courts and schools he realized the people he loved needed freedom more than he needed a palace. Instead of debating amongst each other, when Iranians realize what a dictator is and is not, their comments will make more sense and not be based on ignorance but based on wisdom.

This knowledge is essential when reading this book, because it clarifies the blind spot many Iranian readers have.

Maybe they would then figure out why the media invented the label of dictator for the shah as well as others like a megalomaniac, a villain, a crook. The west used ignorant, uneducated, naive masses to humiliate the Shah because they were against the freedom he had brought to Iran. The West purposely betrayed the Shah and his country.

His democratic friends worshiped money more than democracy or humanities spiritual journey as you can see from the results of betraying the shah. To think the USA, the shahs so-called ally wouldn't even supply the shah with tear gas or plastic bullets or any equipment to peacefully stop demonstrations on the one hand and then used their own media and other tools of soft power to topple the shah by inflaming Iranians about crimes that never existed. Shame on America. Shame on Carter. Ultimately by reading between the lines a reader with heartfelt wisdom can realize the disgraceful values America upholds. After what they have also done to Palestine, Afghanistan and Iraq recently is it any wonder Americans are so disrespected globally today. Americans want Sharia law for every one but themselves so they can freely expand their empire of cruelty and enslavement.