This is a well written book about Iran's international ambitions and activities abroad following the revolution and it does contain some interesting facts about Qassem Soleimani's life but it hardly sheds new light on him as an individual or his most important role as the leader of the Quds Force. The parts about Soleimani's life just before and right after the Iran-Iraq war are the most interesting. The rest of the book reads as a well-written, engaging synopsis of Iran's involvement and ties to various countries like Lebanon and Iraq in the years following the revolution as well as the domestic role of the IRGC, but the book bizarrely does not focus that much at all on Soleimani or the Quds Force, despite the misleading title. To the book's credit, it doesn't seek to exaggerate Soleimani's importance but nonetheless there is a significant level of detail and attention lacking when it comes to his life and role.
Of course it is impossible to discuss Soleimani in the abstract without going over the various military and political conflicts going on in the region, many of which Soleimani had a central role, but the book too often diverges from discussing Soleimani to giving lengthy backstory and context of Iran's domestic politics, other leaders of Shia movements, and broader international political trends. While interesting and well explained, these topics leave you wondering if this book is about Soleimani at all.
The author clearly did a lot of research and appears in earnest in their attempt to tell a balanced and fair account of a very enigmatic figure, no small feat, but there are also periods of time in Soleimani's life that are glaringly absent. The 2011 to 2012 period when the Quds Force was tied to a large number of plots abroad is given less than a page, Soleimani and the Quds Force's intervention in Syria, Iraq, and Yemen also appear like a footnote at the end of the book rather than a central part of the story. I found this very odd given that it was in this period, between 2013 and up until now, that Soleimani and the Quds Force came much more into the public eye.
I was also disappointed as I have a lot of respect for this author (and still do) and was really looking forward to a deep account of Soleimani's life as well as a history of what is arguably his brainchild, though he didn't found it, the Quds Force. You walk away knowing very little extra about it though beyond what can be gleaned from public sources, a lot of which does not even make the book. The book rounds out well in the end though with a frank and not-so-rushed discussion about Soleimani's killing by the U.S. in January 2020 which undoubtedly the author nor the world was not planning for.
Ultimately, I think we are still waiting for the authoritative account on Soleimani's life, the Quds Force, and his influence within Iran.
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Scott
Good, but not what I expected
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on July 1, 2021
