A fragile peace currently exists between the US, Israel and Iran after June’s 12-day war which brought US and Israeli bombs down on Iranian nuclear sites, military bases and intelligence chiefs; and Iranian missiles thudding into Israel. It is anybody’s guess how long this ceasefire will last.
For those seeking to understand this seemingly endless state of conflict between Israel, the US and Iran, and the blood-soaked rivalries that drive conflict in the Middle East today, Scott Anderson’s new book is a good place to start. King of Kings recounts how imperial Pahlavi Iran went from a hyper-rich, secular-leaning “Peacock” throne, firmly allied to the west, a playground for American oil executives, to the dour, repressive Islamist autocracy we know today, locked in perpetual conflict within and without its borders, isolated and seeking a nuclear bomb.