Bani-Sadr, president of the Islamic Republic of Iran during the American hostage crisis and the early stages of Iran's war with Iraq, offers an interesting-though frequently incredible and consistently self-serving-memoir of his brief tenure in office. The author portrays himself as the man who not only gave succor to the Ayatollah Khomeini during the years of exile in Iraq and Paris, but who was responsible for much of Khomeini's prominence during that period. But his account, Bani-Sadr is: a moderate who tried to foster democracy in Iran and resisted the authoritarian impulses of the fanatical Shiite clerics; an inspiring military leader who reformed the Shah's military and led the army to a stunning victory over Iraq in the first year of the war (only to be thwarted by mullahs who wanted the war to continue); and an incorruptible public official who, almost alone among Iranian leaders, resisted the wicked influences of the US and the Soviet Union. In the tradition of Persian intrigue, his story is replete with fantastic conspiracy theories, pronounced as incontrovertible fact. Among these are allegations of secret alliances between the Iranian clerics and American officials and an accusation that America surreptitiously started the Iran-Iraq war. Bani-Sadr adds that because of his resistance to Khomeini's attempts to perpetuate the power of the mullahs, he was forced from office and into exile in June 1981. As a historical document, this is a memoir of some importance, and Bani-Sadr's insights into the Machiavellian politics of revolutionary Iran are often absorbing. Nonetheless, frequent sensational accusations render his tale an eccentric, implausible commentary on the tragic folly of the Iranian Revolution.
Pub Date: May 7, 1991
ISBN: 0-08-040563-0
Page Count: 192
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1991
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
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