The Iranian people that I have met have been generally warm, friendly and welcoming. The country that they come from though is one of the most authoritarian on the planet with the invasive and pervasive monitoring of the population by the Ministry of Intelligence and draconian religious enforcement by the countries spiritual leaders. This powerful and emotive book is the part of the life story of Dr Shirin Ebadi, an Iranian activist and human rights lawyer. She is a strong willed and a lady of immense personal integrity and she has challenged every step of the way the total power that Iranian state thinks it should have.

She has fought tirelessly over the years for the elements in society that we take for granted; democracy, freedom of speech and most importantly in that country equality. Her work for those at the very bottom of society, the plight of Baha'is and women has been an inspiration across the globe, so much so, that she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her relentless work. This did not go unnoticed by the authorities and the Ministry of Intelligence. They bugged her offices and home and made sure that her activities were disrupted and her and her staff and family were intimidated frequently. One man, Mahmudi, seems to have made it his personal mission to hound her to the end of the earth. Little did she know at the time, but a trip to Majorca would be the last time she saw her beloved country.

This book is very moving, not only do we get to see the side of Iran that few of us know about, but we see just how fractured it has become under the continuing despotic leadership. Ebadi writes with a passion and eloquence about her circumstances, the constant hounding that her husband and daughters have had to endure because of the stand that she has taken and the situation in the country. She is even intimidated by them whilst in exile. I would urge people to read this, not just to get an insight to another country in turmoil, but to see what the true face of humanity is and the courage of a woman who has chosen to stand up for her beliefs. ( )

Una lettura di contenuto civile, ancorché abbastanza prevedibile. Chi scrive, premio Nobel per la Pace, non è una scrittrice e si sente. Su chi ha tradotto, un velo di pietoso silenzio.

I needed this education about Iran and what a wonderful way to learn about it. Ebadi writes with emotion and depth---she is committed to such an impressive degree in what she is doing for what is truly her life's work. This is a remarkable book to read right now---partly because it is so easy to see how the country you live in and believe in can be so easily be turned on its head with frightening consequences for its citizens. ( )

Until We Are Free This is the first book of my new challenge to read all the women Nobel laureates! It was a great start. While Ebadi does cover her level of involvement in setting up the Nobel Women's Iniative, One Million Signatures, and later the establishment of the Center of the Defenders of Human Rights, this is mostly a memoir of her life during these times. She talks more about big life changes, her fears and her outrages, and the overall state of women in Iran. It's not the book I thought it was, but that's not a bad thing.
This book is mainly about what happened after she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003. As eluded to above, the government Iran was not pleased with her award and her work and the way it all made them look. She became a target and so did everyone around her, not that it stopped everyone from doing the work that needed to be done. This was a great book about her personal struggles and the rationale behind many of Ebadi's decisions. It also provides an interesting insight into the events that were dubbed the "Arab Spring".
I listened to the audiobook, read by Shohreh Aghdashloo. I didn't recognize her name but Aghdashloo has been in several movies and tv shows. Her voice had been somewhat familiar but I recognized her face right away. The link will take you to her IMDB. She does a great job narrating the book. As always, I appreciate getting to listen to names in other cultures that I would not only butcher but not get a chance to hear how gorgeous they can be.
I would have liked to hear more about Ebadi's work and details on some speaking engagements, but the lack of that information didn't deter from being able to appreciate the book and what she does tell us. She continues to work for Iran through the center mentioned above, visit their site for updates on her work and statements. ( )

What at first feels like a collection of disconnected events becomes a more linked memoir of Shirin Ebadi’s ongoing efforts for human rights, and her life after receiving her well-deserved Nobel Peace Prize. Unable to keep her judgeship in Iran, she was still able to practice law, and it is clear from her interactions with anyone working against her that she excelled at this. She knows very well how the system operates, having learned the hard way, but this makes her stronger and better prepared to bring about justice. She is a human like any of us, and includes the details she remembers from her home country, the food, the sounds, the interiors of buildings where she worked, the way people presented themselves. Even though she is exile, and the intelligence ministry has done unthinkable things to try to stop her, she continues to work for what is right.

This ministry, by the way, is almost unbelievable, how far they would go to track her every move. They had people monitoring her home, her emails, her phone calls, everything, and despite finding nothing, they continue to pursue her. I can only imagine it is for their fear of losing power. One agent in particular stands out: Mahmudi, whose real name was never provided, and his obsession – in the truest sense of the word – for Ebadi and how to get her to “shut up.” When they couldn’t break her, they went after her husband, her sister, her colleagues, anyone that had any connection to her, at best causing an inconvenience, at worst destroying their lives. Ebadi’s faith is a part of her, and though I wish I still didn’t have to say this, religion is not the cause of the problems here. The abuse of power and authority, and occasionally corrupting the intent of religion, is the stem of human rights violations.

Ebadi also possesses a deep understanding of how these oppressors work, as well as how Iran influences other countries in the Middle East and the rest of the world. Late in the book, she briefly writes of how Iran still has oppressed women’s rights, but that overall it is much less severe than in other countries – though still far from equitable, set back further by former President Ahmadinejad. One moment, if understated in her writing, was mention of a place she visited that was notable for its complete lack of female employees. Also memorable was how, among Ahmedinejad’s other backwards policies, he had martyrs buried in the cities’ parks, altering the limited green space available, in a place already suffering from air pollution.

The chapter titles are ominous-sounding, but it is with a remarkably calm pen that Ebadi tells her stories. Many lines I wanted to underline, or highlight, saying so much in so little space. For example, she believed that President Obama’s comments after the 2009 election in Iran were just the right response – nothing that could be used against the United States. It is so important for world leaders to have this kind of understanding. Here I made sure to flag one passage: “What should a society do when a leader that is elected through a democratic process then seeks to subvert the very legal foundation on which the state, constitution, and electorate that voted him into power is based on? Can you allow a democratically elected leader to essentially destroy and subvert the principles that put him in power in the first place?” Here, this is in reference to Morsi’s removal in Egypt, but can also be seen as a warning for democracies elsewhere. Like Ta-Nehisi Coates’ “Between the World and Me” this may be “required reading,” for its insight on what it takes to achieve equity in human rights.

Note: I won a copy of this book through Goodreads First Reads. For more reviews, follow my blog at http://matt-stats.blogspot.com/ ( )