Towards the Great Civilization - by Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (Hardcover)

About the Book

"Mohammad Reza Pahlavi's third book, published on the eve of the revolution that would lead to his exile, gives his assessment of the progress of Iran in the 15 years since the launching of his White Revolution in 1963 and his vision for his country for the proceeding years and decades - the march towards, what he termed, Iran's Great Civilization. An indispensable source for understanding state ideology and domestic and foreign policy in the late Pahlavi period, as well as the shah's personal philosophy and political thought, this new edition of Towards the Great Civilization is based on the original unpublished English-language translation, edited and annotated by Robert Steele, with an introduction by Professor Ali Ansari"--

Book Synopsis

The first English-language translation of former Shah of Iran Mohammad Reza Pahlavi's penultimate book, published in Persian on the eve of the revolution that brought the downfall of the monarchy.

In the late 1970s, on the eve of the Islamic Revolution, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi of Iran published his third book. In it, he gave his assessment of the progress of Iran in the 15 years since the launching of his White Revolution in 1963 and his vision for his country for the proceeding years and decades - the march towards, what he termed, Iran's Great Civilization. An indispensable source for understanding state ideology and domestic and foreign policy in the late Pahlavi period, as well as the shah's personal philosophy and political thought, this new edition of Towards the Great Civilization is based on the original unpublished English-language translation commissioned by the Pahlavi Library, edited by Robert Steele, with an introduction by Professor Ali Ansari.

Review Quotes

The rewards and ravages of time, and the trove of new archival material available for the first time have together begotten a veritable revisionism in the history of Iran's encounter with modernity and the pivotal role of the two Pahlavi monarchs in that encounter. If Mohammed Reza Shah's Answer to History was written when he had tasted the "bitter bread of banishment," his Towards a Great Civilization was bathed in the triumphalism of a king at the height of power and accomplishments. A welcome addition to the plethora of Pahlaviana.
Abbas Milani, Professor, Stanford University, USA

This new translation offers a fresh look at the Shah's vision during the pivotal late 1960s and early 1970s-a defining period in modern Iranian history and monarchy. It provides an opportunity to revisit the core ideas that shaped his political philosophy, including views on global politics, economic strategy, and environmental protection. This updated perspective on the text enhances our understanding of the Shah's era, making it a valuable resource for anyone interested in the Pahlavi period.
Dr Liora Hendelman-Baavur, Director of the Alliance Center for Iranian Studies, Tel Aviv University, Israel

About the Author

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (1919-1980) was the last shah of Iran, who ruled the country from 1941 until 1979.

Robert Steele is a researcher at the Institute of Iranian Studies, Austrian Academy of Sciences. He is the author of The Shah's Imperial Celebrations of 1971 (I.B. Tauris, 2020) and Pahlavi Iran's Relations with Africa: Cultural and Political Connections in the Cold War (2024), and co-editor of Iran and Global Decolonisation: Politics and Resistance After Empire (2023).