Shah of Shahs

About the Book

Shah of Shahs (Szachinszach in Polish) is Ryszard Kapuściński’s literary reportage from 1982, describing the fall of the regime of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in Iran and the course of the Islamic Revolution of 1978–1979. Together with The Emperor, it forms one of the author’s most important portraits of the mechanisms of power and its sudden end.

Kapuściński, an eyewitness to the events, tells the story in his characteristic way: he begins in a Tehran hotel room, among scattered photographs, notes and tapes that gradually “come alive” and reveal the country’s history. From these fragments he reconstructs the road from the coup d’état and a modernisation imposed with an iron hand, through the omnipresent terror of the SAVAK secret police, to the mounting social resistance that ultimately brought Ayatollah Khomeini to power.

The book is, however, more than an account of one specific revolution. In it Kapuściński analyses the universal mechanism by which authoritarian regimes collapse: the moment when fear stops working and the crowd loses its dread of those in power. He also shows how a revolution, in overthrowing one tyranny, can open the way to a new one — and how modernisation forced on a society against its traditions breeds a violent backlash. It is a penetrating study of politics, religion and collective emotions.

Historical Context

Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi ruled Iran from 1941 to 1979. His reign was marked by the modernisation of the country, but also by authoritarianism and repression of the opposition. The Islamic Revolution led by Ayatollah Khomeini overthrew the monarchy and established the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Narrative Structure

The book describes the events preceding the revolution, the course of the popular uprising, and the first days after the Shah’s overthrow. Kapuściński was an eyewitness to many of these events.

Themes

• The mechanisms of social revolution
• The role of religion in politics
• Social resistance to dictatorship
• SAVAK — the Shah’s secret police
• The confrontation between tradition and modernity

The Title

Shahanshah is a Persian term meaning “king of kings” — the title used by the rulers of Persia.

Significance

The book is an analysis not only of a specific revolution, but of the universal mechanisms behind the fall of authoritarian regimes.

Polish Editions

See the list of Polish editions of Shah of Shahs with ISBN numbers.