In the Rose Garden of the Martyrs by Christopher de Bellaigue, the author reveals the inside-story of the Iranian people… of their personal turmoils and struggle as Iran went in precarious phases to find a balance between religion and politics. Surely the era of Ayatollah Khomeini has left a mark on the nation. The account is written in depth – almost in a personal way. That is understandable because the author has worked as a journalist, recording developments on the Middle East and South Asia since 1994, with a special focus on Iran and Turkey. Christopher de Bellaigue’s wife Bita Ghezelayagh, is an Iranian and he has converted to Iranian Shiism sect of Islam: multiplying the means of communication in the ideas of his perception, perhaps.

In the Rose Garden of the Martyrs is a vivid book whose characters make its reader become like them: to feel what revolutions can do, how corruption can influence, and where politics festers.

Pico Iyer, New York Times Book Review, says, ‘[A] stylish and arresting debut… [In the Rose Garden of the Martyrs] pitches us into the very heart and streets of the Iranian revolution today’.