Robin Wright had been reporting from Iran since 1973 when the 1979 Islamic Revolution arrived, and she as much as anyone saw firsthand just what the country sacrificed when it ended more than 2,000 years of monarchy in favor of a rigid theocracy. More than anyone else, however, Wright has continued covering Iran in the 20 years since the Ayatollah Khomeini deposed the shah. The access she has received, remarkable as a woman and an American in a place and time that often penalized both, has given her a unique perspective on the changes that have occurred and continued to take place in Iran. The Last Great Revolution is Wright's third book on post-Revolution Iran, and it comes at an interesting juncture. The country's recent elections once again demonstrated a desire for reform, and the various 20-year anniversaries of last year—particularly the taking of the U.S. Embassy—passed with a hint of apology and overtures to peace. Coming from the country that all but coined the phrase "Great Satan," the mellowing, however minimal, of Iranian policy is a shock. Wright writes that Iran is not so much becoming a more secular state as it is finding more progressive methods of mixing religion and government. Through a series of interviews and privy observations, she demonstrates that contemporary Iran has moved far from the fundamentalist stereotype that haunts it. The Iranians with whom she speaks are jovial, open-minded, and friendly, observations that may contrast with the average American perception of the country. Many cultural restrictions have been lifted, with Iranian cinema gaining an international platform and some Western art—even occasionally edgier fare—allowed back into Iran, showing once again that fear as much as fundamentalism suppressed cultural expression under the Ayatollah. Even the fatwah against Salman Rushdie has been lifted, and religious philosophers such as Abdul Karim Soroush (dubbed "the Martin Luther of Iran") have encouraged the Iranian people not to question other religions, but to learn from the questions other religions raise. While Iran's reformist president, Mohammad Khatami, has received a lot of credit for Iran's new outlook, Wright sees him as merely one more step toward the Revolution's logical fruition. Comparing the Revolution of 1979 to both the French Revolution and the Russian Revolution, Wright considers the harsh religious rule of Khomeini and his followers as a necessary transition while Iran solidified its modern identity. What's going on now in Iran, with religion and reform somewhat reconciled, demonstrates the final step in this evolutionary process, which could put Iran back on the world map not as an antagonist, but as a major player culturally, politically, and religiously.