At a time when most Westerners fled the carnage in Iran, David Burnett
was one of the few to stay and document the breathtakingly sudden fall
of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in December 1978, and the chaotic
political maneuvering that would culminate in the triumph of the
Ayatollahs and the birth of the Islamic Republic.
44 Days re-creates a coup that led to our long hostage crisis,
President Jimmy Carter's political demise, and an enmity still blazing
after thirty years. Burnett's vivid images of the dizzying events and
emotions of that turbulent time illustrate his narrative of the
monarchy's destruction, the last-ditch efforts to salvage a secular
government, and the establishment of a hard-line regime dominated by
religious leaders and the rule of Islamic law. Accompanying Burnett's
account is a penetrating foreword by commentator Christiane Amanpour,
herself Iranian-born, as well as an essay by celebrated New York Times
reporter John Kifner, who shares his own experience of revolution in
Iran and reflects upon its decades-long aftermath.
Filled with powerful insights into the revolution and its pertinence
today, this book is for history and current affairs buffs, photography
lovers, and everyone interested in the clash of Islamic fundamentalism
and the West.
