King of Kings

The Iranian Revolution: A Story of Hubris, Delusion and Catastrophic Miscalculation

De: Scott Anderson

Narrado por: Malcolm Hillgartner, Scott Anderson

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • KIRKUS PRIZE WINNER • From the author of the landmark bestseller Lawrence in Arabia comes a stunningly revelatory narrative history of the Iranian Revolution, one of the most momentous events in modern times. This groundbreaking work exposes the jaw-dropping stupidity of the American government and traces the rise of religious nationalism, offering essential insights into today's global unrest.

“A masterful and propulsive account that chronicles a devastatingly transformative series of events whose aftereffects reverberate to this day.” —The Kirkus Prize 2025 Jury

“An exceptional and important book. Scrupulous and enterprising reporting rarely combine with such superb storytelling.” —The New York Times Book Review

“A masterful and gripping account. Anderson gives us a page-turning history lesson that is more relevant than ever.” —Rajiv Chandrasekaran, author Imperial Life in the Emerald City, a finalist for the National Book Award

On New Year’s Eve, 1977, on a state visit to Iran, President Jimmy Carter toasted Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, King of Kings, Light of the Aryans, Shadow of God on Earth, praising Iran as “an island of stability “ due to “your leadership and the respect and admiration and love which your people give to you.” Iran had the world’s fifth largest army and was awash in billions of dollars in oil revenues. Construction cranes dotted the skyline of its booming capital, Tehran. The regime’s feared secret police force SAVAK had crushed communist opposition, and the Shah had bought off the conservative Muslim clergy inside the country. He seemed invulnerable, and invaluable to the United States as an ally in the Cold War. Fourteen months later the Shah fled Iran into exile, forced from the throne by a volcanic religious revolution led by a fiery cleric named Ayatollah Khomeini. The ensuing hostage crisis forever damaged America’s standing in the world. How could the United States, which had one of the largest CIA stations in the world and thousands of military personnel in Iran, have been so blind?

The spellbinding story Scott Anderson weaves is one of a dictator blind to the disdain of his subjects and a superpower blundering into disaster. Scott Anderson tells this astonishing tale with the narrative brio, mordant wit, and keen analysis that made his bestselling Lawrence of Arabia one of the key texts in understanding the modern Middle East. The Iranian Revolution, Anderson convincingly argues, was as world-shattering an event as the French and Russian revolutions. In the Middle East, in India, in Southeast Asia, in Europe, and now in the United States, the hatred of economically-marginalized, religiously-fervent masses for a wealthy secular elite has led to violence and upheaval – and Iran was the template. King of Kings is a bravura work of history, and a warning.

A Fascinating and Cautionary Tale

It is almost impossible to comprehend American incompetence in Iran This book lays it out in fascinating detail.

Story telling

Loved everything. Even though I knew the story it was told uniquely. Highly recommend. Monumental period of time they impacts everything still

A great analysis

King of Kings is very detailed and fair analysis of the events in Iran and the actions of the United States

An engaging story of a profoundly important chapter in our history

This is, quite simply, an excellent, excellent book. I learned so much about the origins of and fallout from the Iranian revolution. It is easy for a layman grasp, with its depiction of the personalities, both here and abroad, that were so crucial to our country’s catastrophic failure of intelligence and ideas. The narration is great, too. A wonderful Audible purchase for a history buff like me.

Fascinating picture of spectacular failure

I learned so much that would have seemed impossible to believe 40 years ago. Valuable as history, listenable in the way of a great drama.

King of Kings: A Gripping Dive into History

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to "King of Kings" by Scott Anderson. From start to finish, it was an incredibly gripping audiobook that kept me hooked through every twist and turn of the Iranian Revolution's story. The narration is top-notch—Malcolm Hillgartner does a fantastic job, delivering the content with just the right pacing and intensity to maintain that edge-of-your-seat feel throughout.

What stood out most was how well-orchestrated each chapter felt; Anderson structures the narrative masterfully, blending historical facts with insightful analysis that builds layer upon layer without ever feeling overwhelming. He provides great, unbiased insights into the hubris, delusions, and miscalculations that shaped this pivotal event, making complex geopolitical dynamics accessible and thought-provoking.

While the epilogue covered the main characters after 45 years into the revolution, additional analysis of how US failed and still getting wrong in Iran is a missing piece. it could have spiced up more.

If you're into history or current affairs, this is a must-listen. Highly recommend! 5 stars.

Effects still felt today

Very readable, moves quickly through events we remember but with background and detail never imagined. Most Americans of a certain age mainly remember the revolution for the hostage crisis that consumed Carter’s presidency.
This book shows how that was a late domino fated to fall while WH worried about communism , plus the incredible “positive spin” put on anything Shah did.
To Iranians we were bogeymen from time of Shah, not unreasonably, & gives a very different perspective on how our bungling around the ME could lead to a not just Ayatollah but also our 9/11.
Definitely worth the time to hear from people who were there, read the cables etc.
Not anything we heard on news but a valuable perspective that gives the whole story.

Another Fascinating Story Told Well

There have been things in my life as a student of history that I have just been drawn to. One was the American Civil War and the titanic battles fought there. I was drawn to WW2 and D-Day and the battles there. I was drawn to the history of the year 1968 because I remember just what a year of upheaval it was
Now this book. In 1979 I was just about to graduate from high school and the events that took place in Iran and the taking of the hostages and the struggle of finding somewhere for the Shah to land and the rise of Khomeini Mark Bowden captured it in Guests of the Ayatollah and now Anderson has brought forth more the story in King of Kings. Fascinating telling of the events and the players of this point in history.

Details of events

Matched my experience living in Iran during the revolution as a university professor when bazargan was prime minister

Great read that breaks down many factors leading to 1979

I loved how this book did a deep dive into the history and factors that caused the revolution. Also, the narrators attempt at pronunciating Ruhollah was hilarious and admirable.