Iran: What Everyone Needs to Know

by Michael Axworthy

Since the beginning of recorded history, Iran/Persia has been one of the most important world civilizations. Iran remains a distinct civilization today despite its status as a major Islamic state with broad regional influence and its deep integration into the global economy through its vast energy reserves. Yet the close attention paid to Iran in recent decades stems from the impact of the 1979 revolution, which unleashed ideological shock waves throughout the Middle East that reverberate to this day. Many observers look at Iran through the prism of the Islamic Republic's adversarial relationship with the US, Israel, and Sunni nations in its region, yet as Michael Axworthy shows in What Everyone Needs to Know® , there is much more to contemporary Iran than its fraught and complicated foreign relations. He begins with a concise account of Iranian history from ancient times to the late twentieth century, following that with sharp summaries of the key events since the1979
revolution. The final section of the book focuses on Iran today--its culture, economy, politics, and people--and assesses the challenges that the nation will face in coming years. Iran will be an essential overview of a complex and important nation that has occupied world headlines for nearly four decades.

Genres: Iran, History, Middle East, Nonfiction

224 pages, Paperback

Published January 2, 2017

About the author

Michael George Andrew Axworthy was a British academic, author, and commentator. He was the head of the Iran section at the British Foreign & Commonwealth Office between 1998 and 2000.

Reviews

[Lee Andy · Rating 4 out of 5]

《伊朗：被低估的文明和未完成的改革》这书不错。弥补了《伊朗四千年》只写到二战后的伊朗的历史。干练清楚。作者中立略占伊朗。作者对巴列维王朝专治腐败的揭露与前一那种钱穆式的历史温情不同。但对伊朗的传统、自主、文化给予了客观的描述和尊重。还是那句话，伊朗是一个迷：世俗化程度存在的教法国家；民主化成分绽放的专制政府；有重工业的中世纪国家。许多史料以前也不知道，比如当代伊朗的女大学生占6成5弱，在中产家庭女性的收入高于男性。还有原以为犹太教是世界上最古老的宗教。没想到琐罗亚斯德教更早于犹太教，而且其哲学很有意思。比如什么是至善，至善的定义就是英雄去吻处女的唇（这不是祅教的内容，这是我的比喻）。这种定义方式真的和东方哲学和西方哲学都不相同，很有趣。

[Thomas Kvam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good book for understanding Iran in the past and how it got to where it is today, with some fun politics and international relations insights at the end. Would be interesting to see what the author would think of the current situation and whether he’d change any opinions. The book could do with slightly better connections from one point to the the next to really tie the whole thing together, but overall I liked it very much.

[Clyde Yang · Rating 3 out of 5]

Brief introduction of Iran history, although the ancient history part not that well written. If you don’t want to spend much time on learning Iran’s history, this could be one of the books to choose from. Interesting chapter about Iran’s movies.

[Rob Lewan · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a good book. Very informative. I wish it was more separated because it contained a lot of information.

[Simon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excellent primer on contemporary Iran. It is very clear and synthetic. Highly recommanded. I'm reasonably well-read on Iranian history but still experienced a few 'aha' moments. The explanations of the author are straightforward, which helps understanding the intricacies of Iranian politics.