Shah of Shahs on kapuscinski.info

Shah of Shahs — Polish Editions and ISBN Numbers

Sun, 29 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Below is a working list of Polish editions of Ryszard Kapuściński’s Shah of Shahs. ISBN numbers have been added only where they could be confirmed in library or bookseller catalogues. In older editions an ISBN was not always given, or does not appear in readily accessible bibliographic records.

Polish Editions

Edition I
Year: 1982
Publisher: Czytelnik
Print run: 40,000 copies
Price: 70 zł
ISBN: 83-07-00704-6

Edition II
Year: 1983
Publisher: Czytelnik
Print run: 30,000 copies
Price: 90 zł
ISBN: not confirmed

Photographic Motifs in Kapuściński's Shah of Shahs

Fri, 18 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Author: Izabela Koczkodaj

Shah of Shahs belongs among Kapuściński’s most formally distinctive works. The book’s second chapter, entitled “Daguerreotypes,” consists of a series of photographic descriptions — vivid, still images that Kapuściński constructs from memory, imagination, and journalistic observation.

The scholarly article by Izabela Koczkodaj examines the photographic motifs running through Shah of Shahs as a structural and semantic device. Photography is not merely a metaphor here: Kapuściński physically browses through photographs while writing, and these photographs — their faces, gestures, and frozen moments — become the organising principle of his narrative.

"Monument of Flame" — review of Shah of Shahs

Fri, 05 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Author: Zbigniew Bauer
Source: Nowe Książki no. 3, 1982

When writing once about Kapuściński’s The Emperor, I drew out a motif that was almost marginal in that book, appearing almost unnoticed in the story of the nature of empire: Ishmael from Melville’s Moby Dick sails on after the star of his destiny, seeking in the oceans of the Earth the legendary monster that appears in the dreams of whalers. However vast the earthly ocean — Ishmael will traverse it. However cruel the truth about human illusions — Ishmael will sail towards it. The Emperor announced in Kapuściński’s writing what today proves most important in it: the experience of the world, ever broader, ever more dramatic, becoming slowly the experience of oneself in the sea surrounding the Earth — of people, of human mouths, eyes, hands reaching out for alms or for power, human legs shackled by fear or trampling human bodies and human monuments.

"Shah of Shahs" — reportage from the land of bloody absurdity

Fri, 05 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Author: Maciej Czapiewski
Date: 1999

On 9 January 1978, in Qom, the holy city of the Shiites, the Islamic revolution in Iran began. After a year of bloody struggle the reigning ruler, Shah Reza Pahlavi, fled to the United States. Muslim fundamentalists seized power in Persia. There arose a unique state founded on Koranic law, defying both East and West — a state in which a woman could be sentenced to death by stoning for adultery. A witness to these dramatic events was Ryszard Kapuściński, the outstanding reporter gifted with the astonishing ability to be at the critical point of the globe at the right time. He recorded his observations and reflections in the book Shah of Shahs.

"Who Are the Shiites" — an excerpt from Shah of Shahs

Fri, 05 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Author: Ryszard Kapuściński
Source: Gazeta Wyborcza, 6–7 September 2003, no. 208/4419

Ryszard Kapuściński explains the history of the Shiites and the nature of this branch of Islam.

A Shiite is, first and foremost, a fierce oppositionist. In the beginning, the Shiites formed a small group of friends and supporters of the son-in-law of Mohammed — Ali, husband of his beloved daughter Fatima. After the death of Mohammed, who left no male heir and did not clearly designate a successor, a struggle broke out among Muslims for control of the prophet’s legacy — for who would be the leader (caliph) of the followers of Allah, the first person in the Islamic world. The party (for that is exactly what the word shi’a means) of Ali promoted its leader for that position, maintaining that Ali was the only representative of the prophet’s family, the father of Mohammed’s two grandsons, Hasan and Husayn. Yet the Sunni Muslim majority ignored the voice of the Shiites for 24 years, choosing Abu Bakr, Umar, and Uthman as the three successive caliphs.

Press Reviews of Shah of Shahs — Bibliography

Fri, 05 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0000

A bibliography of Polish press reviews of Shah of Shahs published between 1982 and 1985.

• 1982 Literatura no. 1, p. 60–1 — “What Is There in the World?” — review by Grzegorz Godlewski

• 1982 Radar no. 3, p. 13 — “For People at a Crossroads” — review by Krzysztof Pysiak

• 1982 Nowe Książki no. 3 — “Monument of Flame” — review by Zbigniew Bauer

• 1982 Twórczość no. 4, p. 115–23 — “Herodotus in Jeans” — review by Helena Zaworska

Ryszard Kapuściński on the book "Shah of Shahs"

Fri, 05 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Shah of Shahs is a book that came about somewhat by chance. Returning from one of my trips, I was walking down a corridor at PAP headquarters when I ran into a very worried colleague. He said he’d been ordered to go to Tehran to cover the Khomeini revolution. I was surprised: “Why does that worry you?” He replied: “It does. I don’t want to go, I don’t like it, it doesn’t interest me, I’m frightened of all that.” “Then I’ll go in your place,” I said. He was delighted. We went straight to the editor and explained the situation. The editor agreed without any problem. Everything was arranged immediately. That same week I flew to Tehran, where the Iranian revolution had already begun — the first demonstrations, the first shots, the first victims, the first great upheaval the world had seen in a long time.

Shah of Shahs — a review

Fri, 05 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Author: Andrzej Kowalczyk
Source: kolec.pl
Date: 1982

Shah of Shahs (Szachinszach) by Ryszard Kapuściński is a magnificent early book by this outstanding writer and reporter. Enough time has passed since it was written that a new generation can discover it for themselves. For those who decide to re-read it (as was the case with me), Shah of Shahs will unexpectedly reveal its second layer. The references to the world of Islam — variously received and thrust into the centre of media attention after the tragic year of 2001 — may surprise readers with their continued relevance.

Shah of Shahs — List of Editions

Fri, 05 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Edition I — 1982 — 40,000 copies — Price: 70 zł

Edition II — 1983 — 30,000 copies — Price: 90 zł

Edition III — 1988 — 30,000 copies — Series: vol. 3 of Wrzenie świata

Edition IV — 1990 — 50,000 copies — Series: vol. 3 of Wrzenie świata

Edition V — 1994 — 5,000 copies

Edition VI — 1996 — 3,000 copies

Edition VII — 1997 — 3,000 copies