Death to the Dictator!: A Young Man Casts a Vote in Iran's 2009 Election and Pays a Devastating Price

By Afsaneh Moqadam

Book Overview

Tehran, June 12, 2009. Mohsen Abbaspour, an ordinary young man in his twenties--not particularly political, or ambitious, or worldly--casts the first vote of his life in Iran's tenth presidential election. Fed up with rising unemployment and inflation, he backs the reformist party and its candidate, Mir-Hossein Mousavi. Mohsen believes his vote will count. It will not. Almost the instant the polls close, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will declare himself president by an overwhelming majority. And as the Western world scrambles to make sense of the brazenly fraudulent election, Mohsen, along with his friends and family and neighbors, will experience a sense of utter desolation, and then something else: an increasingly sharper feeling--the beginning of anger. In a matter of weeks, millions of Iranians will flow into the streets, chanting in protest,"Death to the dictator!" Mohsen Abbaspour will be swept up in an uncontrollable and ultimately devastating chain of events. Like Philip Gourevitch's We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families and Ryszard Kapuscinski's incisive reportage, Death to the Dictator! stuns readers with its heartbreaking immediacy. Our pseudonymous author was a keen eyewitness in Tehran during the summer of 2009 and beyond. In this brave and true book, we see what we are not supposed to see, and learn what we are not supposed to know.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0374139636
• ISBN13: 9780374139636
• Release Date: January 2010
• Publisher: Sarah Crichton Books
• Length: 148 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.6" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

A sad yet very interesting story.

This is a good book for anyone who is interested in world politics or hates the effect of big government (thats why the I love the title so much). This is a very informative story not just about Moshen and what he has to go though but there is also a great deal on the recent history of Iran. Its also amazing to see exactly how normal Moshen is, it makes his story even more compelling because he is so easy to relate to. In the end this is a great comparison to see how free we are compared to other people around the world.

A tough but informative read

The book begins with a grim scene, then goes backwards in time. It is the true story of the 're-election' of Iran's president. The anonymous author says he was there and witnessed much of what is told in the story. The details he has says he must be the main character the story is focused on. After many years of hopelessness and directionless living, many of the younger generation begin to believe they can make a difference in the direction of their country by electing a different leader. So they rally, they march, they vote. And their vote is stolen from them. And they revolt--bravely at first, then with greater fear as the re-elected president sends out the troops to squash the rebellion, by any means necessary. Much of this will seem like a familiar story told many times, but it was very interesting and surprising to learn more about what is really going on in Iran, the young Iranians, and the ones who participated in the last uprising that allow Khomeini to come to power. The views of the outside world, the ex-pat Iranians, and their own leadership may surprise you--it is much more complex that we have come to believe. It is a very good book that tells an increasingly frightening story about a power with few limits.