Masoud: Memoirs of an Iranian Rebel

(Paperback)

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

Growing up in the aftermath of the 1953 CIA coup in Iran exposed the young Masoud Banisadr to extremes of wealth and poverty, loyalty and betrayal. Years later in the United Kingdom, where Banisadr had gone to do postgraduate study, he decided to join the Iranian Mohajedin, an organization fighting to dislodge the regime that took power following the 1979 revolution. Torn between two loves - his family and the cause - Masoud gave up normal life to pursue the revolution. But it wasn't long before the dream turned sour. The Mojahedin's revolutionary fervour demanded more than total sacrifice: he was pressured to divorce his beloved wife, alienate himself from his family and career, and remain separated for over a decade from his children. Years later, following his defection from the organization, Masoud decides to tell his story. Masoud is a story unlike any other to come out of Iran in modern times; at once a passionate and terrifying account of one man's revolutionary journey, it is also a poignant warning against the dangers of extremism.

Reviews

'A remarkable book that resounds with the suffering of the human condition ... demands to be read.' Fred Halliday 'Brilliant ... an extraordinary book.' Independent 'Powerful and illuminating ... Masoud reads as a long letter of love, and of explanation, to the wife he has for ever lost.' TLS 'This book is a masterpiece and a must-read for anyone interested in such subjects as sects, thought-control, terrorism and totalitarianism.' Asharq Alawsat

Author Bio

Masoud Banisadr was born in Tehran in 1953. In 1976 he travelled to the UK where he obtained an MSc in Engineering and Mathematics from Reading University, and later joined the People's Mojahedin of Iran at the onset of the Islamic Revolution. He defected from the organization in 1996 and now lives in London.