Foucault and the Iranian Revolution informs current discussion on the divisions that have reemerged among Western intellectuals over the response to radical Islamism after September 11.

Philosopher Michel Foucault was working as a special correspondent for Corriere della Sera and Le Nouvel Observateur in 1978 when the protests against the shah of Iran reached their zenith. During this little-known stint as a journalist, Foucault traveled to Iran, met with leaders like Ayatollah Khomeini, and wrote a series of articles on the revolution. Foucault and the Iranian Revolution is the first book-length analysis of these essays on Iran, the majority of which have never before appeared in English. These provocative writings, included here in their entirety as annotated translations, are essential for understanding the history and the future of the West's relationship with Iran and, more generally, to political Islam.