Why this book?
- To understand the life and political career of Amir-Abbas Hoveyda.
- To grasp part of the power mechanism during the second Pahlavi era.
- To read a documented narrative of Iranian politics in the 1960s and 1970s.
- To become familiar with the intertwined fates of Hoveyda and the 1979 Revolution.
About the book
"The Enigma of Hoveyda" is a political biography of Amir-Abbas Hoveyda, Iran's long-serving prime minister during the reign of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. The book begins with Hoveyda's early life and character formation, then traces his entry into politics, his premiership, his relationship with the Shah, his position within the Pahlavi state structure, and finally his trial and execution after the 1979 Revolution.
In this work, Abbas Milani does not examine Hoveyda merely as a political individual; rather, he uses his life as a window for understanding a part of contemporary Iranian political history. Hoveyda's premiership coincided with the growth of the technocratic state, the concentration of power in the court, economic development, inflation, social discontent, and ultimately the crises leading to the revolution.
The book holds an important place in Milani's oeuvre, as it demonstrates his interest in biographical historiography and the analysis of influential figures of the Pahlavi era. Through documents, narratives, and Hoveyda's personal life, he seeks to illuminate the complexities of politics in pre-revolutionary Iran.
This book is suitable for those interested in contemporary Iranian history, political biographies, the second Pahlavi period, and the 1979 Revolution; especially for readers who wish to see the role of individuals, structures, and political decisions side by side.