He was one of many visitors to the busy Pathfinder booth during the 10-day fair who were excited by the state visit to Iran by Cuban president Fidel Castro.

The interest in Castro’s May 6–10 visit, which received major media coverage, reflected the admiration of many in Iran for the Cuban Revolution. It boosted interest and sales in books about Cuba.

The London Pathfinder distributorship sold a total of 312 books and pamphlets at the book fair this year. Seventy-four titles on the Cuban Revolution were purchased, making it the best-selling topic. Che Guevara Talks to Young People was the most popular single title, selling 14 copies. Ernesto Che Guevara, a central leader of the Cuban Revolution along with Fidel Castro, was also the most popular individual author. Thirty-three books and pamphlets by or about Guevara were sold.  
 
‘We do not like imperialism’
Eight copies were sold of Pathfinder’s newest title, Playa Girón/Bay of Pigs: Washington’s First Military Defeat in the Americas. This book describes how the Cuban people swiftly defeated a U.S. attempt in April 1961 to invade their country with a mercenary force and overthrow their revolution. Several fair visitors laughed with pleasure on reading the quotation from Castro used as the title to a speech in the book: "If Mr. Kennedy does not like socialism, well, we do not like imperialism." John Kennedy was the U.S. president who ordered the 1961 invasion.

A group of university students heard Castro address an enthusiastic crowd at Tehran University, where he paid tribute to the 1979 revolution in Iran. Castro "is a great leader," one of the students told the Pathfinder staff, "because he is not above the people, but part of them." A significant number of Iranians who identify with Islam also came to the booth to talk about the Cuban leader’s visit.

The annual Tehran International Book Fair remains one of the largest book fairs and cultural events in the Middle East, if not the world, with hundreds of thousands thronging the different exhibition halls. The book fair stems from the social gains of the 1979 revolution in Iran, which toppled the U.S.-backed monarchy of the shah, asserted Iranian sovereignty, and opened the door to politics, culture, and education for millions of workers and peasants.

The Iranian government offers a nearly 70 percent subsidy on foreign-published books at the annual fair. This enables Iranians to purchase books that would otherwise be beyond their reach. The overseas publishers receive the full price of their books in hard currency.

In addition to imposing sanctions on Iran as punishment for the revolution and the anti-imperialist stance of millions of Iranians, Washington and other imperialist governments continue to spread disinformation about Iran. Book fair visitors often express appreciation for the fact that Pathfinder London is one of the minority of overseas exhibitors that regularly send staff from abroad to the fair in Iran.

In recognition of this fact, the Pathfinder stand received significant media coverage this year, with sales director Tony Hunt interviewed three times by national TV stations and also by the English-language daily Tehran Times, which ran the interview along with one with the British Library representative on its front page. An interview for the official book fair newspaper and for a high school newspaper also took place.

There were more representatives from abroad present this year than in the past. A large stand with staff from Germany and Switzerland--representing publishers and distributors from those countries--dominated the top floor of the foreign publishers hall at the fair. A representative from the United Kingdom of the state-owned British Library was also present, as were representatives of the Italian government, for the first time.

The growing weakness of U.S efforts to isolate Iran within the region was also reflected in the booth from the Turkish Ministry of Culture and the presence of representatives of the Saudi government at the closing ceremony. In addition, Hugo Chávez, president of Venezuela--a fellow member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries--paid a state visit to the country shortly after Fidel Castro had left.  
 
‘Communist Manifesto’ sells out
The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Frederick Engels sold out, disappointing several customers. It came in second on the best-sellers list. One person who missed out was an engineering student who asked, "Where’s that book on the philosophy of Marx?" Instead he bought Socialism: Utopian and Scientific by Engels, Introduction to the Logic of Marxism by George Novack, and The Working Class and the Transformation of Learning by Jack Barnes. Looking through the latter pamphlet, the student was interested to read about what the term "class society" means.

Books by Marx and Engels have always been top sellers at the Pathfinder stand here. This year 33 copies of their works were sold. Also this year, several Iranian publishers issued Farsi translations of a few of the works of these founders of scientific socialism--such as the Communist Manifesto and volume 1 of Capital by Marx.

Due to a regulation that prohibits the sale of books printed before 1999 in the government-subsidized foreign book section, fewer titles by Marx, Engels, V.I. Lenin, and Leon Trotsky were on sale this year at the Pathfinder stand. Some pre-1999 Pathfinder titles were sold in an adjacent building where books of any date could be sold for local currency. The success of Pathfinder’s international reprint project, however, ensured that a good selection of books was available for visitors in the government-subsidized section.

A minority of visitors, including some young people, expressed the view that Pathfinder’s books were "out of date."

"Communism is dead, why are you selling these books?" was a typical comment, referring to the collapse of the Stalinist regimes in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. In response, members of the sales team pointed to the lead article, "U.S. Imperialism Has Lost the Cold War," by Jack Barnes, in issue no. 11 of the magazine New International. Here Barnes explains that the bureaucratic regimes and ruling parties there were not communist, and that the entry of working people into politics and the continued failure to reestablish capitalism in these countries demonstrate that the real loser in the Cold War was U.S. imperialism. Nine copies were sold of this title, including its Spanish and French translations. Eight copies were sold of Capitalism’s World Disorder, also by Barnes.  
 
Interest in ‘The Jewish Question’
Also attracting attention was The Jewish Question: A Marxist Interpretation, by Abram Leon. It sold nine copies as did a related title, How Can the Jews Survive? A Socialist Answer to Zionism, by George Novack. Seven copies were also sold of On the Jewish Question by communist leader Leon Trotsky.

Book buyers liked the materialist explanation offered in all three titles for the origins of Jew-hatred, why it must be combated, and why it is wrong to label all Jews as Zionists or supporters of the state of Israel. Some were surprised that all three authors were Jews, and that George Novack, who was alive after the foundation of the state of Israel, was a firm supporter of the Palestinian struggle. Some fair visitors declined to buy the books, saying they were looking for an explanation of why "Jews have all the power and the money."

Is Biology Woman’s Destiny? by Evelyn Reed--recently reprinted with an attractive new cover--tied with the Communist Manifesto for second place in the Pathfinder best-sellers list. In total 38 books and pamphlets on the fight for women’s rights were sold. Books of speeches by U.S. revolutionary Malcolm X also sold well--28 books in all--with visitors to the stand also showing interest in other books related to the fight against racism.

Two students from Burkina Faso were among the enthusiastic buyers of Malcolm X titles. Their eyes really lit up, however, when they saw the recently reprinted Thomas Sankara Speaks, a collection of speeches by the assassinated leader of the 1983–87 revolution in that West African country.

One of the students bought a copy. The other, who spoke little English but read French, said, "He is my president," referring to Sankara. Other international visitors to the stand included students from Ghana, South Africa, Mexico, Colombia, Australia, the United States, and Italy.  
 
 
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