The Fall of Heaven: The Pahlavis and the End of Imperial Iran

With the cooperation of Empress Farah, the late shah's widow, author Andrew Scott Cooper provides an immersive and gripping account of Iran's glamorous Pahlavi dynasty's rise and fall. In this remarkably human portrait of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, one of the 20th century's most complex personalities, Cooper traces the shah's life from childhood to his ascension to the throne in 1941. Throughout the postwar era, the shah faced assassination attempts and coup plots but managed to build a modern, pro-Western state, propelling Iran to become one of the world's top five powers.

Listeners are taken on a journey through the shah's political career, his courtship and marriage to Farah Diba, and the creation of their beloved family. They are also given an exclusive look into life inside the palace during the Iranian Revolution. Cooper's investigative account offers a comprehensive view of the fall of the Pahlavi dynasty, told through the perspectives of leading Iranian revolutionaries, President Jimmy Carter, White House officials, US Ambassador William Sullivan, American embassy staff in Tehran, American families caught up in the turmoil, Empress Farah, and the rest of the Iranian imperial family.

"The Fall of Heaven" is both intimate and sweeping, recreating in stunning detail the dramatic final days of one of the world's most legendary ruling families. The unseating of the Pahlavis played a significant role in shaping the current state of the Middle East.

product information: