This book, written in a style that blends academic and narrative, and rich in period images, tells the story of Operation Ajax, which led to the overthrow of Mohammed Mossadegh's government in Iran in 1953.
Mossadegh was "guilty" of nationalizing Iran's oil reserves, which had been British-owned until 1951, and for this reason the CIA and MI6 formed a team to overthrow him. The idea was to create the conditions for a coup or revolution through unconventional tools never used on a large scale before, such as sanctions, embargoes, and psychological warfare. It worked.
Operation Ajax opened the doors to a completely new world for the great powers, becoming the first hybrid war of modern times. But that's not the only reason why knowing about Operation Ajax is important: by overthrowing Mossadegh, the United States sparked a wave of anti-Western resentment in Iran that would ultimately lead to the 1979 Khomeini Revolution.
The book is enriched with an appendix containing exclusive material on Operation Ajax.