Call to Arms: Formation and Evolution of the Fada'is, 1964–1976 (Radical Histories of the Middle East)

By: Ali Rahnema

Sign Up Now! Already a Member? Log In
You must be logged into Bookshare to access this title. Learn about membership options, or view our freely available titles.

Synopsis: On 8 February 1971, Marxist revolutionaries attacked the gendarmerie outpost at the village of Siyahkal in Iran&’s Gilan province. Barely two months later, the Iranian People&’s Fada&’i Guerrillas officially announced their existence and began a long, drawn-out urban guerrilla war against the Shah&’s regime. In Call to Arms, Ali Rahnema provides a comprehensive history of the Fada&’is, beginning by asking why so many of Iran&’s best and brightest chose revolutionary Marxism in the face of absolutist rule. He traces how radicalised university students from different ideological backgrounds morphed into the Marxist Fada&’is in 1971, and sheds light on their theory, practice and evolution. While the Fada&’is failed to directly bring about the fall of the Shah, Rahnema shows they had a lasting impact on society and they ultimately saw their objective achieved.