BOOK CLUB: Canaries in the coal mine
As America blunders again into war, we turn to Scott Anderson's history of the Iranian Revolution, "King of Kings" and return to George Orwell's "1984"
Why are we at war with Iran? Trump, Hegseth, and Rubio have offered an array of rationales, none of which add up, for a war without a clear mission — and one that neither the American public nor our allies are supportive of. Terrifyingly, our own leaders seem completely ignorant of how the Iranian regime they are attempting to topple emerged decades ago, and how the “obliviousness” of previous U.S. administrations led directly to the 1979 Iranian revolution and the rise of the Islamic Republic in the first place. Worse, they seem set on repeating the mistakes of the past.
Scott Anderson’s Kirkus Prize-winning King of Kings: The Iranian Revolution — a Story of Hubris, Delusion and Catastrophic Miscalculation is our March Ink Book Club selection. It is a stunning, revelatory work of narrative history that argues that the U.S.’s inability to predict and comprehend that seismic power shift has thwarted American ambitions and influence and damaged countless lives across the Middle East ever since.
In reading King of Kings, it becomes clear that accurate warnings of what was transpiring on the ground in Iran were roundly ignored. Sane, intelligent voices like Michael Metrinko, a Farsi-speaking U.S. diplomat, were suppressed by superiors, who viewed him as a kind of dissident in their ranks. About a month prior to the revolution, Metrinko was barred from a meeting where he intended to share what he feared would soon transpire: that the U.S.-installed Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi would fall; that Iranian anger towards America was bottomless; that Ayatollah Khomeini’s movement was ascendant. Metrinko would become one of the 52 American hostages held for 444 days at the U.S. embassy in Tehran.
In a New York Times review of King of Kings published when the book first came out last August, author Mark Bowden called the book “masterly,” saying it “illustrates the stubborn American blindness that hastened the shah’s demise and helped the mullahs prevail.” In our current moment, it provides essential context for what has already transpired and what may still be to come.
When we sit down this week with Scott Anderson for the first of two Ink Book Club live conversations on Friday, March 13, at 12:30 p.m. Eastern, we’ll have lots of questions, among them: How did we get here? Where do we go from here?
What questions will you have for him? Let us know in the comments below.
Additionally, this month, we will be in conversation with Laura Beers, the author of Orwell’s Ghosts: Wisdom and Warnings for the Twenty-First Century, as we reread 1984, by George Orwell. Beers’ utterly fascinating account won the 2024 Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Biography, and was described by The New Yorker as “lucid” and “powerful.”
Our live conversation with Laura Beers will take place here on The Ink on Friday, March 20th, at 12:30 p.m. Eastern. So get out your dog-eared copy of 1984, or pick up the 75th-anniversary edition, released last year. (Did you know that Orwell initially wanted to title the novel The Last Man in Europe? His publisher suggested “1984” would be better received by the public. That’s an understatement!)
Below, you’ll find some thoughts to consider in advance of Friday’s conversation. The Ink Book Club’s events are open to all paid subscribers to The Ink. If you haven’t yet become part of our community, join today. And if you’re already a member, consider giving a gift or group subscription.