Operation Ajax

Graphic true-life spy thriller about the CIA mission that overthrew Iran’s democracy The year is 1953. As the value of oil skyrockets, global power brokers begin to take interest in the political regimes of the Middle East. British agents have controlled Iranian oil exports for a generation, but the Shah’s hold on peace is shaky as a charismatic leader enters the scene. Mohammed Mossadegh’s calls to overthrow the elites resonates among the people, and as rumors circulate of an impending revolt, American, British and Persian agents hatch plans of overthrow. Deals are made behind closed doors. Every actor has a stake. Iran’s oil will flow, by any means necessary. Operation Ajax is the story of the CIA coup that removed the democratically elected Mossadegh and reinstated the monarchy. Introduced by New York Times–bestselling author of All the Shah’s Men, Stephen Kinzer, Operation Ajax is a thrilling tale of real-life intrigue.

This is the first full-length account of the CIA's coup d'etat in Iran in 1953—a covert operation whose consequences are still with us today. Written by a noted New York Times journalist, this book is based on documents about the coup (including some lengthy internal CIA reports) that have now been declassified. Stephen Kinzer's compelling narrative is at once a vital piece of history, a cautionary tale, and a real-life espionage thriller.

Ajax, the archetypal Greek warrior, has over the years been trivialized as a peripheral character in the classics through Hollywood representations, and by the use of his name on household cleaning products. Examining a broad range of sources--from film, art and literature to advertising and sports--this study of the "Bulwark of the Achaeans" and his mythological image redefines his presence in Western culture, revealing him as the predominant voice in The Iliad and in myriad works across the classical canon.

"In 1953, a coup d'etat in Iran was carefully organised by the Central Intelligence Agency of the United States together with the British Secret Intelligence Service. The CIA Director 'approved a budget of $1 million which could be used by the Tehran Station in any way that would bring about the fall' of Premier Mossadeq. Once the deed had been accomplished, the CIA commissioned a history of its successful operation to change the Iranian regime. It is published here in full." "This document is crucial to an understanding of Iranian history: but it also has some considerable relevance to the constitutional history of the United Kingdom. Here we have a short guide through the labyrinths of the world where things are not what they seem to be. Yet, the parallels with the current confrontation with Iran are all too clear."--BOOK JACKET.

Few Americans today have any idea why Iran and America seem forever to be at loggerheads or even why Iran held 52 American hostages for 444 days in Tehran after the overthrow of the shah, America's best ally in the region. Iranians remember well the 1953 CIA-orchestrated coup that forcibly removed democratically elected Prime Minster Mohammad Mossadeq, a man dedicated to loosening the grip the Western oil companies had over Iran and her oil. Now, for the first time, is the story of the coup d'etat that placed the dreaded Shah of Iran in power as told by former CIA operative Donald Wilber, a deep cover CIA asset in Iran at the time. Wilber lays out the whole plan--every dirty trick and rotten scheme--which so successfully removed Mossadeq, by all accounts a good nationalist and a wise leader. CIA In Iran reveals in shocking detail a once-top-secret report by a CIA field agent working in Iran. The report, which reads like a detective novel, shows how U.S. and British operatives employed every dirty trick at their disposal, including bribery, murder and terrorism, to eliminate a government they could not control and replace it with one they thought they could. It is the true story of how, in 1953, American agents destroyed the democratically elected prime minister of Iran, Mohammad Mossadeq, and maneuvered the infamous "Shah of Iran," Reza Pahlavi, into power. The installation of the Shah led to Pahlavi's own ouster (he was feared by the majority of Iranians) and the creation of today's Iranian Islamic Republic. Following the overthrow in Iran, U.S. intelligence repeatedly employed the same formula in future coup attempts, including the disastrous Bay of Pigs, but could never quite replicate its success. To this day, historians and journalists contend the CIA is still utilizing what agents learned in Tehran in 1953. Likewise, you can believe that foreign governments are all more wary of U.S. scheming, thanks to the release of this report.Today, the rift between the United States and Iran, short of war, could not be wider.

A comprehensive two-volume overview and analysis of all facets of espionage in the American historical experience, focusing on key individuals and technologies. In two volumes, Spies, Wiretaps, and Secret Operation: An Encyclopedia of American Espionage ranges across history to provide a comprehensive, thoroughly up-to-date introduction to spying in the United States—why it is done, who does it (both for and against the United States), how it is done, and what its ultimate impact has been. The encyclopedia includes hundreds of entries in chronologically organized sections that cover espionage by and within the United States from colonial times to the 21st century. Entries cover key individuals, technologies, and events in the history of American espionage. Volume two offers overviews of important agencies in the American intelligence community and intelligence organizations in other nations (both allies and adversaries), plus details of spy trade techniques, and a concluding section on the portrayal of espionage in literature and film. The result is a cornerstone resource that moves beyond the Cold War-centric focus of other works on the subject to offer an authoritative contemporary look at American espionage efforts past and present.

The former head of the Middle East Department of the CIA during the 1950s, details his involvement in Iranian politics.

An immersive, gripping account of the rise and fall of Iran's glamorous Pahlavi dynasty, written with the cooperation of the late Shah's widow, Empress Farah, Iranian revolutionaries and US officials from the Carter administration In this remarkably human portrait of one of the twentieth century's most complicated personalities, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Andrew Scott Cooper traces the Shah's life from childhood through his ascension to the throne in 1941. He draws the turbulence of the post-war era during which the Shah survived assassination attempts and coup plots to build a modern, pro-Western state and launch Iran onto the world stage as one of the world's top five powers. Readers get the story of the Shah's political career alongside the story of his courtship and marriage to Farah Diba, who became a power in her own right, the beloved family they created, and an exclusive look at life inside the palace during the Iranian Revolution. Cooper's investigative account ultimately delivers the fall of the Pahlavi dynasty through the eyes of those who were there: leading Iranian revolutionaries; President Jimmy Carter and White House officials; US Ambassador William Sullivan and his staff in the American embassy in Tehran; American families caught up in the drama; even Empress Farah herself, and the rest of the Iranian Imperial family. Intimate and sweeping at once, The Fall of Heaven recreates in stunning detail the dramatic and final days of one of the world's most legendary ruling families, the unseating of which helped set the stage for the current state of the Middle East.