Countercoup: The Struggle for the Control of Iran by Roosevelt, Kermit - 1979

New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1979. Controversial account of MI6 and the CIA's role in 'Operation Ajax', the overthrow of Iran's democratically-elected Prime Minister Mossadegh & reinstatement of the Shah. Roosevelt submitted his original document to the CIA for review and rewrote it according to their requests, removing references to British Intelligence and resulting in, according to a CIA reviewer, "essentially a work of fiction." When first released, it included passages asserting the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (forerunner of BP) was the instigator of the coup; under threat of lawsuit, the publisher pulped most of the original edition, and quickly published this revised version, despite the ongoing Iranian hostage crisis. Documents not released until 2014 shed light on the book's history. Roosevelt, Teddy Roosevelt's grandson, had served in the OSS during World War Two and was recruited by the CIA after the war to work on turning Arab nations away from Soviet influence, where his work was well-regarded. Hardcover in jacket, as pictured; full number string, but the revised edition, with textual changes on pages 3, 91, & 195 (at least). Light wear to book; spine ends bumped; jacket shows some wear, rubbing, short tears, half-inch chip to rear panel. Text clean; x, [2], 217 pages; index.. Revised Edition. Hard Cover. Very Good/Good. Octavo.