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Great Britain & Reza Shah: The Plunder of Iran, 1921-1941, by Mohammad Gholi Majd. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida, 2001. xiii + 386 pages. Notes to p. 412. Sel. bibl. to p. 414. Index to p. 429. About the author. $59.95.
Reviewed by Michael P. Zirinsky
The title of Mohammad Gholi Majd's book, Great Britain & Reza Shah: The Plunder of Iran, 1921-1941, encapsulates his thesis: Britain invaded Iran in 1918 for its own nefarious purposes, placed Reza Pahlavi in power, and encouraged him to loot the country; in 1941, deciding that Reza Shah was too transparently their agent, Britain again invaded and replaced Reza Shah with his son.
Majd's book is largely based on US diplomatic records, preserved at the National Archives. Its greatest strength lies in extensive quotations from these records. Unfortunately, Majd has not compared American diplomatic accounts with other primary sources, including Iranian ones. Unfortunately as well, Majd fails to provide context for British actions in Iran.
By European standards, Iran before 1914 was chaotic: government was weak; tribes and notables worked with foreigners as easily as with the ruling Qajars; cities were small and isolated, but often experienced riots, frequently caused by food shortages; unrest was channeled by authorities into violence against religious minorities, in the manner of Russian pogroms or American race riots. Iran's ability to remain nominally independent in the face of these pressures owes a good deal to its physical isolation, as well as to Tehran's skill in playing powers...