The Last Days of the Shah's Iran: Through the Eyes of a TASS Correspondent The monarchy seemed eternal, with a lineage from Cyrus the Great, oil power, and an invincible army. But it collapsed not from an external invasion, but under the weight of its own illusions and mistakes. Mikhail Krutikhin found himself at the center of events. His diary is a chronicle of the destruction of one of the most persistent political myths of the 20th century. This is a book about the end of an empire. Yesterday, iron order, today, candles in the dark and barricades of garbage. The lesson of Iran is clear: a regime that has lost touch with reality is doomed, even if it has oil, an army, and the blessing of the superpowers.
