"Insightful, important, and timely. . . . A virtual state within a state, [the Guards] have exerted tremendous influence on Iran's politics, foreign policy, and economy. This is essential reading for all those who are interested in how the regime has managed to destabilize the Middle East and carve out an arc of domination known as the 'Shiite Crescent' from Lebanon to Yemen."-Ofira Seliktar, professor emerita at Gratz College and coauthor of Iran, Revolution, and Proxy Wars
"Mark Silinsky has the knowledge and the imagination to place the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a key Iranian institution, in the context of other totalitarian regimes, specifically the Soviet and Nazi regimes. The result-ever so timely in the aftermath of the Qasem Soleimani execution-is a compelling guide."-Daniel Pipes, president of the Middle East Forum and publisher of Middle East Quarterly
"Mark Silinsky combines a deep and broad knowledge of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps with a deep understanding of what is going on in today's Iran. He makes a powerful case for greater understanding of contemporary Iranian politics in helping the West to manage a seemingly intractable problem . . . and he does so with prose that is informal and engaging."-Christopher Coker, director of LSE IDEAS, a think tank at the London School of Economics and Political Science
"Mark Silinsky has expertly exposed the depraved and fanatical practices of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, giving us valuable insight into their roles in international terrorism and the oppression of the Iranian people."-Christine Sixta Rinehart, associate professor of political science at the University of South Carolina and author of Sexual Jihad: The Role of Islam in Female Terrorism
"Like Nazi Germany and the USSR, the Islamic Republic of Iran is founded on an ideology that is both imperialistic and totalitarian. Mark Silinsky skillfully demonstrates the disturbing parallels between these three toxic regimes, showing how Shiite millenarian thinking makes the Iranian regime's ideology especially dangerous. All who wish to deepen their understanding of the Iranian threat to the civilized world should read this book."-Joseph S. Spoerl, professor of philosophy at Saint Anselm College
