The Last Great Revolution Turmoil and Transformation in Iran by Robin B. Wright. (New York and Toronto: Alfred A. Knopf, 2000. 335 pages.)

Abstract

Robin Wright's The Last Great Revolution reflects her 27 years of study
and observations of Iran's cultural and political transformations.
She interviews thinkers, parliamentarians, administrators, and average
people on the streets as she portrays the radical shift in Iran since the 1979
Islamic revolution.
Wright starts with her "Personal Odyssey" as an introduction. She
describes her first encounter with Iran after the revolution at the airplane in
a detailed way. Indeed, she wants her book to "help outsiders to see what is
there not just what [they] want to see." She distinguishes this book from
her previous ones, because this time, instead of giving only her own
impressions, she lets Iranians "speak for themselves about their ideas,
experiences, dreams, and frustrations." After the introduction, she provides
brief information about the geography, religion, and population of Iran.
The first chapter analyzes the revolution as the Last Great Revolution
of the modem era, that will stand along with the French and Russian
revolutions. Wright explains the reasons which made the Iranian revolution
suitable and unique. First, the Shi'ite character of Islam demands a
faithful fight against injustice and tyranny. Secondly, Iran has a long
political experience that has not come under any colonial power. Thirdly,
Iran is heir to a great civilization that had a role in shaping the wqrld.
Finally, it is between the West and the East as a meeting point of cultures,
which gives the opportunity for revolutionary ideas to reach the people
from both directions. To sum up, Wright makes it clear that quest for
empowerment in Iran did not ascend from heaven unpredictably in 1979.
She notes that everything was already set for an upheaval.
Wright's important analysis in this chapter is inspired by Brinton's
classic work, The Anatomy of Revolution. Brinton argues that "Revolutions
are like fevers". Wright examines the Iranian revolution in three phases ...