An Enduring Love: My Life with the Shah Farah Pahlavi 447 pp. Miramax Books. $24.95 For over thirty years, Farah Pahlavi has been forbidden from setting foot in the country she once ruled. Married in 1959 to Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, she reigned alongside him until the 1979 Islamic Revolution made pariahs of Iran’s … Read more
Hitch-22 Christopher Hitchens 424 pp. Twelve of Hatchette Book Group $14.99 Christopher Hitchens was never quiet for a long enough time to allow anyone to ask him any questions about himself. Readers never had a chance to inquire about how his ardent and militant atheism reflected his Jewish heritage. No one was afforded the opportune … Read more
Known and Unknown: A Memoir By Donald Rumsfeld 832 pp. Sentinel HC. $36 The title of former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld’s memoirs-Known and Unknown-is appropriate of almost any position that requires making decisions based on predictions. In national security matters, especially during war-time as in Afghanistan and Iraq, there will be good intelligence and … Read more
No Apology Mitt Romney 352 pp. St. Martin’s Griffin. $15.99 “No Apology” is Romney’s first attempt at collecting his thoughts, opinions, and views of the world in a coherent text for the public. Considering his past policies, which include legislation favorable for gay rights and pro-choice, many have wondered where the Republican candidate stands … Read more
Memoirs Mikhail Gorbachev 769 pp. Doubleday. $35. Why a review of Mikhail Gorbachev’s memoir, why a review now and can lessons be drawn there from which are relevant for us today? Gorbachev was the last leader of the Soviet Union, a seventy year long experiment in state governance where political authority flowed top-down and all … Read more
Our Last Best Chance: The Pursuit of Peace in a Time of Peril King Abdullah II of Jordan 368 pp. Viking Adult. $27.95. In his memoir, Our Last Best Chance, King Abdullah II of Jordan tells a story that is at once personal and political. His powerful message on the centrality of the resolution of … Read more
My Life Bill Clinton 957 pp. Knopf Publishing Group. $22.63 The Story Writer: A Review of Bill Clinton’s “My Life” By: Inesha Premaratne I don’t usually weigh my books, but I must say that at 3.5 pounds and 957 pages, Bill Clinton’s My Life is quite hefty. Beyond his marked candor, this former … Read more
Iran Awakening: A Memoir of Revolution and Hope Shirin Ebadi and Azadeh Moaveni 256 pp. Random House. $14.95. By Nadia Farjood I straddled a historical boundary sitting between my Iranian father and my Iranian grandmother as I pulled back the first page of Iranian activist-lawyer Shirin Ebadi’s … Read more
A Journey to Disillusionment Sherbaz Khan Mazari 650 pp. Oxford University Press. $64. Sherbaz Mazari’s journey to disillusionment begins as early as 1948, after the creation of Pakistan. Hopes were running high and he was eager to serve his country when he took a group of tribesmen to fight for the liberation of Kashmir. An … Read more