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Beginner's Guide (Oneworld Publications)
Iran: A Beginner's Guide
Since the 1979 revolution, Iran has been locked in conflict with the United States and Europe. Personified in the West by a series of bogeymen from Ayatollah Khomeini to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, this villainous mask obscures a far more complex identity, forged by a vibrant and chaotic history.
Revealing the country’s true face, acclaimed expert Homa Katouzian delves deep into Iran’s past, exploring how an ancient civilization at a crossroads of diverse dynasties and religions grew to become an ethnically, linguistically, and culturally rich nation. Centuries of arbitrary rule and revolution – from the first Persian empires to the Green Movement – are brought to life as Katouzian offers fresh insight into this fascinating country. Asking where its future may lie post–Arab Spring, this is the perfect primer for understanding a country characterized by constant flux and controversy.
Revealing the country’s true face, acclaimed expert Homa Katouzian delves deep into Iran’s past, exploring how an ancient civilization at a crossroads of diverse dynasties and religions grew to become an ethnically, linguistically, and culturally rich nation. Centuries of arbitrary rule and revolution – from the first Persian empires to the Green Movement – are brought to life as Katouzian offers fresh insight into this fascinating country. Asking where its future may lie post–Arab Spring, this is the perfect primer for understanding a country characterized by constant flux and controversy.
- GenresIranNonfictionHistory
248 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 1, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
October 11, 2014
A very useful little book for an introduction to understanding Iran's complex history and politics. It also entails serious analyses as well as concise but relevant factual information.
February 19, 2017
Not really a beginner's guide - more of a brief history of Iran, with more focus on contemporary Iran. Seemed unbiased and honest as it reveals the complexity of that ancient and yet immature state.
January 21, 2021
Katouzian offers a combination of panoramic overviews and detailed accounts of blow-by-blow developments. I liked his introduction best, with its clear layout of the basic realities that have shaped the country all these thousands of years. He documents, in more-than-adequate detail, the gradual rise of a third option for society -- between the previous options of autocracy or chaos. As the reformist ex-president Khatami put it, "arbitrary rule and chaos are two sides of the same coin."
February 12, 2020
I acknowledge and respect the amount of research, effort and time that Katouzian has put into writing this book, but the biggest setback for me is that Iran has a lot of history (really,
a lot
), and that 230 pages is simply too small of an amount to be a "beginner's guide".
You go through an even scope of phases of Iranian history; from the ancient Achaemenid Empire to medieval Persia, the Pahlavi's, and the Islamic regime that unfortunately is still alive today. However, it's so very concise that I understood very little to none at times. Because I'm Iranian, I had a little bit of an advantage but I can imagine that non-Iranians who come into this book expecting a simple and uncomplicated way of learning about the country would be very lost and confused. And Iranian history within itself is very complicated.
Alongside with a little more research of my own, I was able to learn things that I never knew of before, which was what I had intended to gain upon picking this up. It was well-rounded in the sense that it showed every side to conflicts and gave an unbiased account of events.
Therefore, I don't think total beginners would get a lot out of this, however if you do already have some solid knowledge on Iran, I think this is worth a read.
You go through an even scope of phases of Iranian history; from the ancient Achaemenid Empire to medieval Persia, the Pahlavi's, and the Islamic regime that unfortunately is still alive today. However, it's so very concise that I understood very little to none at times. Because I'm Iranian, I had a little bit of an advantage but I can imagine that non-Iranians who come into this book expecting a simple and uncomplicated way of learning about the country would be very lost and confused. And Iranian history within itself is very complicated.
Alongside with a little more research of my own, I was able to learn things that I never knew of before, which was what I had intended to gain upon picking this up. It was well-rounded in the sense that it showed every side to conflicts and gave an unbiased account of events.
Therefore, I don't think total beginners would get a lot out of this, however if you do already have some solid knowledge on Iran, I think this is worth a read.
March 28, 2020
Very shallow and incomplete overview of iran with strange conclusions and in general waste of time.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews