This memoir by empress Farah Pahlavi looks back on her reign over an Iran so modern it is unrecognizable today--written just a few years before the Islamic Revolution of 1979. "Beautifully written, intelligent and insightful, the memoirs of Farah Diba Pahlavi open a window on the life of one of the great women of our time and offer a unique perspective on the extraordinary country over which she and her husband reigned before darkness fell." --Bob Colacello, founding editor Interview magazine At the time I wrote my memoir, I had no idea what was to come . . . Empress Farah Pahlavi was the first crowned empress of Iran, little did she know she would also be the last. This memoir was written in 1976, at the height of her reign on the glittering peacock throne. The candid words reveal her vision for a better Iran, without any idea of what history would bring--the end of the fairy tale. Farah Pahlavi helped usher in a modern Iran now lost to the sands of time.
As the first Empress is Persia's 2,500 history, Farah Pahlavi implemented a series of reforms that created a progressive, modernized Iran, an Iran touted by President Jimmy Carter as "an island of stability in one of the more troubled areas of the world." She instituted literacy and education programs, hospitals and traveling doctors, and founded countless museums celebrating the rich history of Persia. One of the museums she founded, The Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art, is regarded as having the best collection of contemporary art, with an estimated value of over $3.5 billion dollars. The Islamic Revolution of 1978 erased all the progress Farah cultivated in Iran, closed the country's doors to outside ideas and visitors, and closed the doors on its custodians, casting the Empress and her family into exile. The maccinations of the Islamic regime make daily news and are headline making. As a result of this regression, Iranian women have once again been subjugated, few people have gotten to appreciate the modern Iran that once was, and the art and cultural value of one of the world's oldest regions. This long-awaited follow up to the previously published Iran Modern (Assouline, 2016), this title, complete with a new forward and pictures from the Empress' personal collection, will appeal to any Iranians abroad, including the 700,000 residing in Southern California alone, to students of history, religion, politics, fa
As the first Empress is Persia's 2,500 history, Farah Pahlavi implemented a s