THE TURBAN
FOR THE CROWN
The Islamic Revolution in Iran
The objective of this book is to explain the Islamic revolution of 1979 in Iran and to assess its significance in world history. It is clear that the Islamic revolution in Iran is a cataclysm as significant and as unprecedented in world history as the French revolution of 1789 and the Russian revolution of 1917. It has indeed a good claim to being considered the surprise of the century, a century not devoid of surprises. Few considered the rise of theocracy in a modernized state a possibility, and even fewer thought it might result from a popular revolution. What added to the wry poignancy of the event was that the Ayatollah succeeded in raising the banner of Islamic theocracy in the land of the Shah, the last King of Kings who, until the day of his departure, commanded a large army equipped with the latest weapons. | 
