Stolen Revolution

A moving, harrowing, and compulsively readable portrait of the lives of Iranians across five decades, tracing the promise of the 1979 revolution, its betrayal by forces of autocracy, and a people’s undying spirit of resistance

In 1979, a revolution in Iran swept aside a monarchy, fueled by the Iranian people’s dreams of social justice and political freedom. But in the years that followed, the movement’s leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, and his acolytes instead built a system that served their narrow faction and worsened beyond imagination the brutality and corruption that had existed under the previous government. In Stolen Revolution, award-winning journalists Yeganeh Torbati and Bozorgmehr Sharafedin tell the entwined stories of six Iranians who, together, have lived the arc of modern Iranian history in all its bitter twists and enduring hopes.

We meet Mehdi Karroubi, a devotee of Khomeini, who rose to the heights of power before being cast out of the inner circle. Hila Sedighi, a young activist, gave voice through her poetry to her peers’ hopes and shattered dreams. Amir Moghadam, an ambitious government bureaucrat, witnessed corruption and graft on a scale that impelled him to take enormous risks to expose the truth. Said Rahmani returned to Iran to spark a start-up boom in his native country and encountered a ruthless security state. And Rozhin Yousefzadeh and Kosar Eftekhari, both born in the 1990s, joined a mass movement that confronted a ferocious state apparatus: the Woman, Life, Freedom protests. Each paid an enormous price. In this vivid and unforgettable narrative, Stolen Revolution centers ordinary Iranians and their destiny, even as it provides a gutting understanding of life in a modern authoritarian state.“A brilliant investigative history of modern Iran, a powerful story of ambition and survival amid the deepening coercion and repression of the Islamic regime. With prodigious research and unforgettable characters, the authors reveal the truth about Iran’s tumultuous revolutionary epoch —from mullahs to start-ups — and offer hope for a future beyond it.”
— David E. Hoffman, author of The Billion Dollar Spy and The Dead Hand, winner of the Pulitzer Prize

“A profoundly affecting account of life in modern Iran through the eyes and experiences of a group of remarkable – and remarkably brave – individuals. It is also a sobering examination of the brutal instruments of repression the regime employs to maintain power. This is one of the most incisive works on Iranian society in a generation.”
—Scott Anderson, author of King of Kings

“Rigorous and revelatory, a kaleidoscopic history of modern Iran that is gripping and suspenseful and endlessly interesting. Torbati and Sharafedin tell the vivid story of a group of idealists who have crashed up against the realities of a revolutionary project gone terribly awry. A masterwork of reporting, this book is a kind of skeleton key for understanding the present moment.”
—Jonathan Blitzer, author of Everyone Who is Gone Is Here

“Anyone who cares about the future of Iran should read Stolen Revolution. Yeganeh Torbati and Bozorgmehr Sharafedin explain how the 1979 revolution was subverted by Iran's corrupt and arrogant leaders—and how courageous Iranians continue to fight for a free and modern country. The Iranian people's struggle should inspire us all.”
—David Ignatius, columnist, The Washington Post

“Stolen Revolution is truly revelatory. It is at once a searing expose—showing how the Islamic Republic really works, and for whom—and a tragic tale of all that has been robbed, materially and morally, of Iranians who sought to make their country a better place. It is investigative and narrative journalism at their best.”
—Laura Secor, author of Children of Paradise

“The best book to understand Iran today…. a masterful narrative that moves seamlessly between grand historical turning points and the intimate details of private lives. Through the stories of six individuals—from a cleric who helped build the Islamic Republic to young women defying it in the streets—they reveal how the revolution shaped these people, and how their decisions, compromises, and acts of resistance shaped Iran in turn. Beautifully written, perfectly timed, and impossible to put down.”
—Edward Fishman, Director of the Center for Geoeconomic Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations and author of Chokepoints

“A modern history of Iran, told through the experiences of citizens across a range of sectors. . . . A sort of “profiles in courage” approach [that] captures the evolution of personal ideologies and allegiances and grants illuminating detail to global conversation. . . . We are left with a portrait of a nation more nuanced, complicated, and promising than the world—and perhaps even its own leaders—have fully appreciated. . . . A consciousness-changing record of the oppression of extremism lived and resisted at the personal level.”
—Kirkus ReviewsYEGANEH TORBATI is an award-winning reporter who has covered Iran, U.S. national security, business, and immigration. She has worked at The Washington Post, ProPublica, Reuters, and The Baltimore Sun. She was part of a Reuters team that received the Gerald Loeb Award, the Overseas Press Club Award, and the European Press Prize. Torbati was born in Oklahoma to Iranian immigrants.

BOZORGMEHR SHARAFEDIN began his journalism career in Iran, rising to editor in chief of the most popular youth political magazine in the country. In 2008, he left Iran for the BBC in London. He joined Reuters in 2015, where he shared a National Press Club Award. He moved to Washington, D.C. in 2024 and works as the head of digital at Persian-language Iran International.