Rating: 
Summary: Honest Insight
Review: I think Queen Farah's new book is a must for any scholar of Iranian history. The moral to the whole Pahlavi tragedy is that democracy cannot exist in a country where less than 10% of the population has less than has an education beyond the 7th grade. True democracy requires educated and informed voters. This is what the SHAH tried to impress upon former President Carter to no avail. Granted the Shah was not blameless for all his troubles, but those same troubles plague every government in the so called developing world. In the end the Shah's positives outweighed the negatives, with Ayatollah Khomeini's government it was the reverse. What amazes me about this book is with all the garbage Queen Farah has had to endure she remains without bitterness or despair. One often hears about how the United States installed the Shah in the 1950's, I think this is not totally correct, The United States HELPED the IRANIAN AIR FORCE get rid of Mr. Mossadegh because he was a rabble rousing demagogue like Peron in Argentina or recently, Col. Chavez in Venezuela. The United States did install the Ayatollah Khomeini because President Carter brought into his administration hoards of former 60's radicals and then allowed them to run amok in the State Dept, allowing them to undermine any regime world-wide that was considered too friendly with their old arch nemesis, Richard Nixon. Given what Iran has achieved by 1978 it is sad to think what kind of grand nation it would be today.
Rating: 
Summary: Incomplete
Review: I was disappointed with Farah's book. She writes a generic and boring book about being the wife of the shah and leaves out information that could have made this intersting like his other wives, the Falacci interview in which he said men are superior to women. Farah could have given us an insight into the complex psychology of a despot, but she writes as if she were June Cleaver married to Ward Cleaver.Critics below complain that people remember the shah as a despot and "enough is enough". Unfortunately, there is no statute of limitations on murder. Farah didn't elicit the intended sympathy for her family by skirting these issues in her book. In fact, just the opposite. Her writing smacks of smug indifference to the plight of Iranians persecuted by the shah by failing to even acknowledge them. "All the Shah's Men" should be read along with, or rather instead of, this book. It tells of how the elected leader, Mohammed Mussadegh was overthrown and the shah was installed. This was the seed for Iran's current troubles.
Rating:
Summary: No Accounting for Farah's Account
Review: As an author, Farah doesn't score points for copying Queen Noor's template. Farah seems determined to distort reality, although she covers it over by hiding behind family, and saying the shah loved his children. That seems to be a basic requirement for being human, but it doesn't follow he was a good leader. He wasn't. Farah omits details about the tens of thousands of political prisoners who were tortured and killed. I'm an American who personally witnessed the shah's troops shoot protesting students in the street, and I was nearly shot myself as a result. The insecure Pahlavi family propped themselves up using Iran's wealth to decorate lavish palaces, to buy flashy foreigh cars cars, to ride around in custom private airplanes, to buy Paris fashions, to have private French hair dressers for the family, and to funnel money to foreign bank accounts for the day they were overthrown (for the second time, third if you count his father, a peasant who gained power through a military coup). As Farah points out, Iran was better off under the shah that it is today, but she misses the point. Read "All the Shah's Men" for how he gained power. If we hadn't overthrown the democratically elected Mohammed Mussadegh, if we hadn't installed the shah who was a corrupt and cowardly tyrant, there may never have been a revolution that led to the current horrible Islamic theocracy. The point isn't that the shah was a marginally better dictator than the current dictators. The point is that we never should have overthrown a democratically elected government in the 1950's and maybe Iran would have been much better off today than it was under either of the two previous selfish and tyranical regimes.
Rating:
Summary: To 40+ year old Iranians
Review: My generation (the 40+) who grew up with the Shah's regime will perhaps understand this book more than anyone else. We all grew up with the images of Shah, the Persian past, and the so much everyday stress on national icons (as oppose to religious death and destruction of wronly interpreted Khomein's Islam). Yes, there were suppression of thoughts, and liberty under the Shah, and to this date people continue to bring that up when talking about the Shah and his era. To all these people I say "ENOUGH is ENOUGH!" You people are the ones who took away Iran's dignity, integirty by commiting the mass suicide of the 1979 revolution. ENOUGH is ENOUGH and just keep your mouth shut for ever. For those who are outside of Iran I propose going back and staying there for just 2 weeks and talk to the post revolution children (they are of the same age as ours where the revolution took place - the 40+ who did commit the mass suicide in 1979 and put them in a position they are in today). Ask them for forgiveness and ask them to pray for you to have god forvige you for yoru national mass suicide crime of 1979. This book should simply be owned by all Iranians - especially my generation of 40+ - as a reminder of how we all have to answer to history and before god for those of us who said "Death to the Shah" in 1979 and today our children in Iran say :"Death to our parents who said death to the Shah"!
Rating:
Summary: The Long Goodbye
Review: Farah's book is slow moving in most parts. She recounts her meeting of the Shah, her life of public works and dress-up (via old pictures - I agree with a previous reviewer that this is the highlight of this boring book), and their ignominious ouster. Farah lacks the insight to see that the Shah's fate and her fate were largely of their own doing. They had a choice to be better than that, but his regime was brutal, and lacked any sort of independent justice system. The backlash was swift and brutal when it came, but they created the atmosphere for it to happen. My main problem with this book isn't Farah's lack of mental flexibility, her total lack of balance, or her omission of key facts (that would have made her family look very bad, indeed), rather my major complaint is that this book is stultifying.
Rating:
Summary: Jean Sasson applauds this warm human being
Review: While I agree that every monarchy and dictator should be eased out of power, the manner the Iranian government was changed created chaos for the world. I was an American living in Saudi Arabia when the Shah was overthrown. I saw what that turbulance did to the entire region. The government that followed the Shah was about the worse thing that could happen to the Iranian people. I knew little about Farah or her husband, other than the reports of government brutality. Slow change under the Shah would have been much better than what the poor Iranians got. This well-written book that I read in two sittings (its that interesting) opened my eyes to the family involved. There is always bad mixed with good in life, but there was a lot of good in this family. I was ashamed how my own government turned their back on the Shah at a time of his greatest need. In my opinion, Jimmy Carter was weak to refuse this family immediate assistance. When our government needed the Shah, we couldn't have been nicer. We he needed a favor, we turned our backs! I hate that particular trait about my own government! As said, I'm not saying that ANY dictator or monarchy is a good thing, but there should have been real world pressure for change in the Shah's method of governing, and NOT a quick removal of the ruling family. This family could have adjusted to a slow removal of total power and just think of the lives that would have been saved. Surely, the Shah and Saddam Hussein would have never gotten into an 8 year war that killed so many innocent Iranians and Iraqis. Surely the Shah would not have killed his citizens with the absolute abandon of the current regime. Iranians are miserable with their government. Just look at what the current regime does to their citizens! I am NOT an apologist for the Shah or for any government, but until we learn to make slow change, we'll have to deal with tremendous upheaval and chaos. Lives are ruined at every turn. I found Farah Pahlavi to be a very sensitive and caring woman and I felt she was being completely honest. This was her reality and she was on the inside, and I say we should all applaud her. She has endured terrible losses and our own humanity should make us offer a hand of friendship and concern. To lose everything in one clean sweep... It's time for us all to be a little kinder and more understanding of another person's life. I HIGHLY recommend this book. It's a great read. I hope she sells millions of copies.
Rating:
Summary: Farah's Perspecitve
Review: Farah writes this book from the perspective of Carmela Soprano when she still defended Tony Soprano. Farah writes that the shah played with his children, but leaves out the part that he was a brutal dictator.
While the current regime in Iran is an unmitigated disaster for human rights, the Shah's wasn't much better, but Farah doesn't even mention this. A reviewer below ludicrously compares the shah's rule to President Bush. Nothing could be further from the truth, because in the U.S. we have a balance of power between the elected executive branch, the legislative branch, and the judicial branch of government.
Rating:
Summary: Iranian Retrospective
Review: Farah writes a book of eyewash as if she had a normal family life except for the fact that no one would take in her family and her cancerous dictator husband after the Iranians revolted in frustration against his totalitarian regime. Unfortunately they ended up with something worse, but that doesn't mean the Shah's rule was any good. That's the sad part about this book. It is an attempt to gloss over the harm the shah did, and for that injustice, Farah is solely responsible.
Rating:
Summary: Evil Made Mundane
Review: Farah's book is a mundane recount of her marriage as third wife of the shah of Iran. She tells of their meeting, a short married life before the despot - except she doesn't mention he was a despot - was overthrown, her playing around with public works, fleeing the country, and the pariah the shah became as no country would take in the ousted dictator. She also tells of the death of her daughter. This is sort of like Eva Braun telling of her life(...), but leaving out the messy parts. Farah leaves out the parts about how the shah ruthlessly persecuted all opposition, and how Iran had the most corrupt judicial system in the world. Reviewers below sound moronic and slavish, just the sort of subjects the shah welcomed. All others were dying to get rid of him. He ran a corrupt goverment and set the stage for the even worse government in Iran today. Some legacy.
Rating: 
Summary: A memoir that touched my heart
Review: I am an Christian Iranian. All non-Islamic ethnic groups were considered religious minorities; and we REALLY were treated as minorities until the reign of the late Shah - may he rest in peace!
The Shah was not a dictator. He knew his people and their intellectual capacity. He knew that they were not ready for more or sudden freedom, as you encounter in some countries of the world. He was trying to slowly push the country and the nation forward and get them to the point that they would not abuse their freedom.
Every regime has shortcomings in the eyes of those who live in other countries; and Shah's regime was not an exception. It did have problems; which would have improved if he was still there.
The religious minorities who have been in Iran for centuries, have never had access to social and political freedom as they did under the Shah. And, believe me, this meant a lot to all of us!
The country was leaping forward and would have been considered a modern and privileged land in less than twenty years, if the monarchy had not been ousted.
There is so much talk about the Iranian (or as they call it Shah's) secret service. I would like to be told that other countries do not have it, and the secret service in those countries do not torture or kill.
Shahbanu's book is a very delicate and touching story. She expresses herself genuinely and honestly.
She became our Queen when she was only 22 years old, and very naive for her age; but during her time in Iran she was a wonderful, caring and kind queen. She was liked even by those who did not like the Shah. She did a lot for the country and people of Iran. She was admired by all.
When the Pahlavis were in Iran, we did not need a visa to visit most of the countries in Europe - because Iran was recognized and appreciated. Nowadays, Iranians are treated like lepers - thanks to the present fundamentalist government!
In 25 years of Islamic Republic Iran has gone back 2500 years in every aspect of social, educational and political standards. Whatever was built brick by brick by the Pahlavis during their reign, was pulled down and buried by the fanatic and illiterate clergy; whose only interest is destroying one of the most ancient countries of the world.
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