America and Iran: A History, 1720 to the PresentA NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR • A hugely ambitious, “delightfully readable, genuinely informative” portrait (The New York Times) of the two-centuries-long entwined histories of Iran and America—two powers who were once allies and now adversaries—by an admired historian and former journalist. In this rich, fascinating history, John Ghazvinian traces the complex story of the relations between these two nations back to the Persian Empire of the eighteenth century—the subject of great admiration by Thomas Jefferson and John Quincy Adams—and an America seen by Iranians as an ideal to emulate for their own government. Drawing on years of archival research both in the United States and Iran—including access to Iranian government archives rarely available to Western scholars—the Iranian-born, Oxford-educated historian leads us through the four seasons of U.S.–Iran relations: the spring of mutual fascination; the summer of early interactions; the autumn of close strategic ties; and the long, dark winter of mutual hatred. Ghazvinian makes clear where, how, and when it all went wrong. America and Iran shows why two countries that once had such heartfelt admiration for each other became such committed enemies—and why it didn’t have to turn out this way. |
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America and Iran: A History, 1720 to the Present
User Review - Publishers WeeklyThe hostility between the U.S. and Iran is a tragic lapse from a once-friendly relationship, according to this sweeping study. Historian Ghazvinian (coeditor, American and Muslim Worlds Before 1900 ... Read full review
Contents
| 3 | |
| 21 | |
The Amateurs | 38 |
The Professionals | 51 |
The Man from Manila | 66 |
War and Peace | 80 |
The Sordid Side | 97 |
The WarriorKing | 105 |
This Turbulent Priest | 234 |
The Final Emperor | 247 |
The Unthinkable | 266 |
Dulce et Decorum Est | 347 |
Goodwill Hunting | 379 |
The First HopeyChangey Moment | 401 |
That September Day | 417 |
The Moral Cold War | 436 |
Hello Johnny | 128 |
Tehran Spring | 141 |
The Liberty Bell and the Wool Pajamas | 167 |
Yes and Yes Sir | 209 |
You Say You Want a Revolution? | 218 |
Atoms for Peace? | 451 |
Designed to Fail | 477 |
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS | 547 |
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Common terms and phrases
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Bibliographic information
| Title | America and Iran: A History, 1720 to the Present |
| Author | John Ghazvinian |
| Edition | illustrated |
| Publisher | Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2021 |
| ISBN | 0525659323, 9780525659327 |
| Length | 688 pages |
| Subjects | › › History / Middle East / General History / Middle East / Iran History / Military / United States |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |