Formerly with the Sunday Times of London and stationed in the Middle East, foreign correspondent Robin Wright catalogues her experiences of Iran in her book In the Name of God: The Khomeini Decade. Ms. Wright explains that her rationale for writing the book was to take an objective look at the Iranian situation. As one Iranian told her, "You (Westerners) thought you understood Iran because the shah spoke English and because his cabinet had read Shakespeare, but you and the shah fail to understand Iran because you were looking for reflections of yourself."

Extensively researched and footnoted, Ms. Wright's book examines the era from the Iranian revolution forward, and looks at the social and religious motivations behind Iranian policy. She concludes that religious motivation has played the most important role in sustaining the revolution. She suggests that many of the actions taken by the ayatollah's government were designed to divert attention away from internal social and economic problems.