In October 1999 during a trip to Cairo, Cyrus Kadivar, an exiled Iranian living in London, visited the tomb of the last shah, which opened a Pandora's box. Haunted by nostalgia for a bygone era, he recalled a protected and idyllic childhood in the fabled city of Shiraz and his coming of age during the 1979 Iranian revolution. Back in London, he reflected on what had happened to him and his family after their uprooting and decided to conduct his own investigation into why he lost his country. He spent the next ten years seeking out witnesses who would shed light on the last days of Pahlavi rule. Among those he met were a former empress, ex-courtiers, disaffected revolutionaries, and the bereaved relatives of those who perished in the cataclysm. In Farewell Shiraz, Kadivar tells the story of his family and childhood against the tumultuous backdrop of twentieth-century Iran, from the 1905-1907 Constitutional Revolution to the fall of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, before presenting accounts of his meetings with key witnesses to the Shah's fall and the rise of Khomeini. Each of the people interviewed provides a richly detailed picture of the momentous events that took place and the human drama behind them. Combining exquisite vignettes with rare testimonials and first-hand interviews, Farewell Shiraz draws us into a sweeping yet often intimate account of a vanished world and offers a compelling investigation into a political earthquake whose reverberations still live with us today.

A poignant memoir of pre-1979 Iran and the human drama behind the fall of the last shah.

About the Author
Cyrus Kadivar was born in Minnesota to Iranian-French parents. He grew up during the Shah's reign in the Persian city of Shiraz. At sixteen he and his family were uprooted by the 1979 revolution. He has since worked as a banker, freelance journalist, and political risk consultant and lives in London.

Reviews

"A journey into Iran's recent history and a tale of nostalgia and longing for pre-revolutionary Iran"-Duna El-Zobaidi, The Arab Weekly

"Farewell Shiraz is a sensitive, gentle, nostalgic and very personal account of a world which disappeared in the maelstrom of revolution in 1979, an event which, like the French revolution may yet define the century which followed it. Certainly, we live with the consequences today, whether domestically, in Europe or in the Middle East. It has taught me much about a great nation and a proud civilization and is a perceptive insight into the reality of permanent exile. I recommend it unreservedly."-General Sir Richard Shirreff, author of War With Russia: A Menacing Account

"Both memoir and history, Farewell Shiraz offers not only a glimpse of a lost Iran, but also of the author's heartfelt and lifelong quest to make sense of the revolution that rendered that loss."-Roham Alvandi, author of Nixon, Kissinger, and the Shah

"This riveting memoir . . . expresses the author's feelings and efforts to overcome the pain of leaving his beloved country. Cyrus Kadivar gives us a fascinating account of the last days of Pahlavi rule in Iran."-Lisa Kaaki, Arab News

Book Information
ISBN 9789774169328
Author Cyrus Kadivar
Format Paperback
Page Count 440
Imprint The American University in Cairo Press
Publisher The American University in Cairo Press
Weight(grams) 594g