I really like "All the Shah's Men" for a few reasons. First off, it's not just about the Shah and his men. It has a bunch of other stuff in it too. Second, it gives real stories, told in story form whereas most books would just give a very historical standpoint with no feel. It also does a good job of giving the book feel without implementing a huge bias into the stories.
Anyway, about the reading. I thought that this was a really interesting reading because it provided not only the facts, but also the opinions of many of the people involved in the reading. For example, I loved the part where it talks about Eisenhower's opinions on replacing the leader of Iran and how his view is shaped and molded. (Not only by the Iranians and the British, but also by his fellow advisors. It's amusing to me that the Eisenhower administration was all for one thing while Eisenhower himself thought exactly the opposite. But eventually, and only through lots of people's gentle inputs, subtle words, and small lies, he changed his mind and allowed the CIA to replace Mossadegh. Also, a bunch of people kind of spoke on Eisenhower's behalf, twisting and bending his words to sound more... more like what the other person wanted to hear. I think its funny how the president really didn't have much control over even his own people, let alone what the rest of the world was doing.
Honestly, I really enjoyed the reading but didn't think that the questions were all that interesting. I was more fascinated by what was actually going on in the story than how it related to what we were doing in class. Kinda unusual.
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