A book reading by Christopher de Bellaigue, Journalist

Thursday, January 10, 2013
2:00 PM
10383 Bunche Hall
UCLA
Los Angeles, CA

*Lecture in English

Born in London in 1971, Christopher de Bellaigue has worked as a journalist in the Middle East and South Asia since 1994. His first book, In the Rose Garden of the Martyrs: A Memoir of Iran, was shortlisted for the Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Prize. His book Rebel Land: Unraveling the Riddle of History in a Turkish Town was shortlisted for the prestigious Orwell Book Prize for political writing. His most recent book is PATRIOT OF PERSIA: Muhammad Mossadegh and a Tragic Anglo-American Coup. De Bellaigue has been a frequent contributor to The Economist, The New Yorker, Granta, Harper’s, and The New York Review of Books. He lives in London with his wife and two children.

“A compelling biography… Bellaigue…writes with economy and a lightly ironic touch…The result is a three-dimensional profile of Mossadegh that contrasts sharply with the heroic democrat mythologized by his supporters.”

—Wall Street Journal

“Portrayed by Bellaigue as a classic tragic hero…The book presents a nuanced portrait of an enigmatic man whose brilliance and fairmindedness fatally collided with his pride and rigidity. It also provides context for the dismal state of U.S.-Iran relations today.”

—Tara Bahrampour, Washington Post

“De Bellaigue uses plenty of local insight to provide general readers with an intriguing combination of biography, history and strategic study…De Bellaigue’s history brings together elements of miscomprehension, accident, chance, surprise, mistaken loyalties and revenge-driven shifts in political alliances…A pleasing combination of intriguing local color and cultural and historical depth.”

—Kirkus Reviews

Part of the Bilingual Lecture Series

Cost : Free and open to the public.

international.ucla.edu/cnes

Sponsor(s): Center for Near Eastern Studies, Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, Keddie Balzan Fund, Amuzegar Chair in Iranian Studies of UCLA