Tā āzādī
de Shirin Ebadi
The first Iranian woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, Shirin Ebadi has inspired millions around the globe through her work as a human rights lawyer defending women and children against a brutal regime in Iran. Now Ebadi tells her story of courage and defiance in the face of a government out to destroy her, her family, and her mission: to bring justice to the people and the country she loves. For years the Islamic Republic tried to intimidate Ebadi, but after Mahmoud Ahmadinejad rose to power in 2005, the censorship and persecution intensified. The government wiretapped Ebadi's phones, bugged her law firm, sent spies to follow her, harassed her colleagues, detained her daughter, and arrested her sister on trumped-up charges. It shut down her lectures, fired up mobs to attack her home, seized her offices, and nailed a death threat to her front door. Despite finding herself living under circumstances reminiscent of a spy novel, nothing could keep Ebadi from speaking out and standing up for human dignity. But it was not until she received a phone call from her distraught husband--and he made a shocking confession that would all but destroy her family--that she realized what the intelligence apparatus was capable of to silence its critics. The Iranian government would end up taking everything from Shirin Ebadi--her marriage, friends, and colleagues, her home, her legal career, even her Nobel Prize--but the one thing it could never steal was her spirit to fight for justice and a better future. This is the amazing, at times harrowing, simply astonishing story of a woman who would never give up, no matter the risks. Just as her words and deeds have inspired a nation, Until We Are Free will inspire you to find the courage to stand up for your beliefs; advance praise for Until We Are Free: "Shirin Ebadi is quite simply the most vital voice for freedom and human rights in Iran"--Reza Aslan, author of No god but God and Zealot : The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth; "A riveting account of a brave, lonely struggle. Reads like a police thriller, its drama heightened by Ebadi's determination to keep up the quotidian aspects of her family life"--The Washington Post Book World; "A must-read. may be the most important book you could read this year"--Seattle Post-Intelligencer; "As a testament to how a single, inspired voice can rise above the cacophony. The book should be required reading"--The Nation; "Some of her admirers in Iran call her a woman of steel. Sure, the Iranian human rights champion also has a heart of gold. But it is Shirin Ebadi's unbending will that explains how she has become the conscience of the Islamic Republic"--Time; "[Ebadi] has risked her freedom and her life to defend democracy, free speech, and the rule of law"--The Boston Globe.