The Iranian Revolution

By Jessica Schneider May 11, 2009, 12:22 GMT

From the bestselling author of Saddam comes the definitive biography of Ayatollah Khomeini\'s Islamic revolution and how his fundamentalist legacy has forever influenced the course of Iran\'s relationship with the West. In February 1979, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returned to Tehran after nearly fifteen years in exile and received a hero\'s welcome. Just as the new world order sought to purge the communist ideologies of the ...more

“Khomeini's Ghost: The Iranian Revolution and the Rise of Militant Islam” is the latest by Con Coughlin

Amazon provides a good product description, saying it best:

“From the bestselling author of Saddam comes the definitive biography of Ayatollah Khomeini's Islamic revolution and how his fundamentalist legacy has forever influenced the course of Iran's relationship with the West.
In February 1979, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returned to Tehran after nearly fifteen years in exile and received a hero's welcome. Just as the new world order sought to purge the communist ideologies of the Cold War, the religious doctrine of Islamic fundamentalism emerged to pose an even greater threat to post-Iron Curtain stability—and Khomeini would mastermind it into a revolution.
Khomeini's Ghost is the account of how an impoverished young student from a remote area of southern Iran became the leader of one of the most dramatic upheavals of the modern age, and how his radical Islamic philosophy now is at the heart of the current conflict between Iran and the West. Con Coughlin draws on a wide variety of Iranian sources, including religious figures who knew and worked with Khomeini both in exile and in power.
Compelling and timely, Khomeini's Ghost is essential reading for anyone wishing to understand what lies at the center of many of the world's most intractable conflicts.”

The NYT reviewer notes some criticisms: “Coughlin is careless with names, associations and even basic facts.”

The reviewer also adds: “Coughlin offers no thoughts on how the West ought to proceed. He concludes limply that as long as Khomeini’s heirs are in power, Iran will remain defiant. Given the current attitudes in Washington about Iran, it seems Coughlin’s book has arrived one administration too late.”

The full review can be read here.