Rebels With A Cause: The Failure of the Left in Iran [Hardcover]

Maziar Behrooz (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1860643817 | ISBN-13: 978-1860643811 | Publication Date: December 3, 1999

Why were left-wing politics so ineffective in Iran while socialism and communism were making great strides in the rest of the world? Why did the Left not capitalize on Iran's brief fling with anti-Western politics in the early 1950s before the Shah was restored to his throne? Above all, why was the Left so crushingly defeated after the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran? Based on primary and secondary Persian-language sources never before published in English, this book reveals new details and provides fresh insights into an enduring puzzle of modern Iranian political history, concluding that the Left's demise came from a combination of Iran's geopolitical setting, where both the Soviets and the West saw advantage in the stability of Iran during the Cold War, and the Iranian Left's over-enthusiastic devotion to a barren Stalinism.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Behrooz argues that Marxism in Iran was defeated not through ideological crisis engulfing international communism but because of its inability to understand and cope with the internal dynamics of the 1979 revolution. An objective, comprehensive, and balanced presentation...” —Choice

“Relying on an array of Persian and English sources, his valuable book documents the revival of the left in the wake of the coup against Muhammad Mussadiq in 1953, the anti-shah movement, and the early years of the Islamic revolution.” —Middle East Quarterly

About the Author

Maziar Behrooz is Assistant Professor of History at San Francisco State University.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: I. B. Tauris (December 3, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1860643817
• ISBN-13: 978-1860643811
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,137,640 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars WORTH EVERY PENNY, April 24, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Rebels With A Cause: The Failure of the Left in Iran (Hardcover)

THIS BOOK PROVIDES INSIGHT INTO THE POLITICAL AND RELIGIOUS DEVELOPMENT IN IRAN OVER THE PAST SEVERAL DECADES. IT IS AN EASY, COMPREHENSIVE READ FOR ANYONE WHO IS STRUGGLING TO UNDERSTAND THE CHANGES OCCURRING IN THE MIDDLE EAST.

3 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Neither worth the time nor the money!, November 10, 2003

By 

Hamid R. Bahadori (Mission Viejo, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rebels With A Cause: The Failure of the Left in Iran (Hardcover)

This is a poorly written book. In additon to its numerous spelling and grammer errors, its flow of information is diffcult to follow, and the author's bias in interprtation of events is mostly annoying. It may serve as agood reference for bibliography in a mediocre college papar about Iran, but that's about it. It most certainly did not woth either my tome or my money.