Iran: Dictatorship and Development

by Fred Halliday

Published just before the Revolution, this is a great view of that nation during a pivotal period in history.

Genres: Iran, History, Middle East

368 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1979

About the author

Simon Frederick Peter Halliday, FBA (22 February 1946 in Dublin, Ireland – 26 April 2010 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain) was an Irish writer and academic specialising in International Relations and the Middle East, with particular reference to the Cold War, Iran, and the Arabian peninsula.

Reviews

[Nicholas Woode-Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

I stopped reading half-way through. Halliday seems to have a decentish knowledge of pre-1979 Iran, but destroys any knowledge he has with twisted analysis based in a fanatical and unbalanced framework. He fundamentally tries to paint Iran in pure class conflict terms, while ignoring religion and culture as a relevant factor. Beyond naive. The book doesn't satisfactorily explain anything that other sources can't explain better.