Revolutions are watershed events that attempt to transform the existing political order and replace it with a new but better one. Yet the hallmark of most revolutions has been violence, war and dictatorship. The Iranian Revolution of 1979 has been no exception. This book offers a critical analysis of the Iranian Revolution. It focuses on the upheavals that led to the fall of the Shah. It provides the reader with an appreciation for the interplay of forces in the making of the 1979 revolution and the emergence of the Islamic regime.