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Iran
- A Modern History
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 41 hrs and 53 mins
- Categories: History, Middle East
Publisher's Summary
This history of modern Iran is not a survey in the conventional sense but an ambitious exploration of the story of a nation. It offers a revealing look at how events, people, and institutions are shaped by currents that sometimes reach back hundreds of years. The book covers the complex history of the diverse societies and economies of Iran against the background of dynastic changes, revolutions, civil wars, foreign occupation, and the rise of the Islamic Republic.
Abbas Amanat combines chronological and thematic approaches, exploring events with lasting implications for modern Iran and the world. Drawing on diverse historical scholarship and emphasizing the 20th century, he addresses debates about Iran's culture and politics.
Political history is the driving narrative force, given impetus by Amanat's decades of research and study. He layers the book with discussions of literature, music, and the arts; ideology and religion; economy and society; and cultural identity and heritage.
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What listeners say about Iran
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Chris Carl
- 16-01-20
A Nuanced, and Objective Masterpiece !!!!!
One thing to say if you want a Muslim bashing book you may find the author opinionated. On audible every time a book doesn't take a Muslim bashing approach in any objective or nuanced historical book, conservatives in western countries find it opinionated and not objective since it doesn't fit their ideological needs. I have read many books on the Muslim world and took many courses on the subject. I also been deployed to Iraq in the army. Since the war drums with Iran been going on in the headlines I decided to give this beast a try. I been countering it out with Jay Solomon's "Iran Wars." First off I only honestly did 7 chapters of this book so far which mostly covers the Safavid Dynasty but I feel I can give a good assessment of how the author approaches the issue. I am almost done with the book "The Sultan and the Queen" by Jerry Brotton and I feel that this book shows the accuracy of the time period. Which that book dealt with the economics and political situation of the Ottoman Empire with Europe this fills in the gap of the Safavid Dynasty with Europe and its regional rivals. In this book you will get sex tales within the regimes, and many accounts of the brutal heavy handed Shahs. All the different religious clerics, religious groups, dervishes and their debates. You will hear of Iranian converts to Catholicism, and Iranian interactions with European powers. The effects of Gold inflation brought in by the new world. The effects of opium and syphilis among the population. Cultural attitudes, musical and artistic tastes. I mention these things to show you that this book is not some romanticism of Iran or the Muslim world but an objective view of the accomplishments and eccentric deviancy that's common in any medieval dynasty at the time. This dynasty just happens to be of Shia Muslims. The narrator has a perfect scholarly accent too that will drawl you in the material. If its this objective so far and entertaining I cant wait to hear the rest of the book.
6 people found this helpful
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- Glaudrung
- 13-02-19
Extremely Opinionated.
This is a huge book, but it covers a massive topic. I has a conversational tone instead of a narrative, so individual chapters have a general topic but a meandering story. There are many controversial statements presented as fact here which could be argued, but the author only mentions them in passing so you must ask yourself why it was included in the first place. The author is constantly comparing what went on in Iran to contemporary events in Europe. This becomes impossible because each individually is a non-specific issue that covers a broad policies in Iran without detail. Also, the author stereotypes all "Europe" to include everything from the ancient Greeks to Revolutionary France. For instance, he brings up the preception of Persia (Iran) from the Bible. That opens up a can of worms, but the author could have started with "it is beyond the scope of this book to assess the accuracy of any sacred text." But instead, the book presents what is said in the Bible as fact with two end notes that say "although it was really a composite work written centuries later." This combined with the fact in one passage he says that ancient Iranian alphabet was dropped for the "more accurate" Arabian one, but later he states flatly that the transition was a product of the Islamic invasion. He also avoids saying how Islam came by mass conversion at sword point, only saying that the older Zoroastrianism was replaced "very quickly." The author thinks the Latin "Rex" means theocrat. He is WRONG, Rex means king or dictator which is solely secular authority. Author admits that slavery in Iran was open to many abuses including sexual slavery, but insists that it was not as bad as what happened in Europe. The unfair comparison is unfair, especially since Europe had a whole rainbow of policies and practices over the centuries. Also, the author says that inter-racial marriages were not uncommon, but he ignores it was also forbidden and subject to all sorts of mandatory discrimination. In fact, most of the biracial children were the product of sexual slavery. But since the author does not detail how social and legal justice was dealt out, he allows the impression that slavery was unimportant. You can obviously see where the author is coming from. But there is a lot of good information in this book, but inexperienced ears should be cautious of the lack of an overall argument or narrative and occasional factual inaccuracies.
24 people found this helpful
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- Ahmad Safabash
- 23-11-19
Most amazing history book
This book was beyond my imagination. No wonder why it is the result of 20 years of the author’s effort. I think any Iranian who is wondering why Iran fell into such a misery has to read this book. I wish I could find a Farsi copy.
3 people found this helpful
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- Allen5423
- 13-04-19
A Masterpiece
Abbas Amant's "Iran, A Modern History" is a masterpiece worth reading for anyone interested in the history of modern Iran. If you don't have the patience to read 1000 pages, listen to the audio version. It'll be well worth your time!
3 people found this helpful
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- Allan
- 13-01-21
A Masterpiece
Historical account of Iran, with an emphasis on the 20th century. Runs from the early 16th century with Ismail I to the present. Detailed , interesting, great narrator, I was hooked. Highly recommend to anyone interested in learning more about the country.
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- Amazon Customer
- 22-01-20
Interesting but hard to follow
As an audio book, it’s hard to follow when you’re fairly unfamiliar with much of the history of Iran. Reading a name is much easier to reference and remember than having it read aloud. Nevertheless it’s informative and extensive in the research and arching themes of Iran’s political, military and social history of the last 500 years.
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- horoscopy
- 26-08-19
Long, disorganized, and very long winded rambling
too long, disorganized, and seemed like the book was just more interested in length than in quality, concise organization, etc. I will look for a book that hits more concicely , hones in on the main themes instead of just rambling on and on and on about just anything, Persian music, literature, just on and on about anything, not much organization, plus it kind of skips to the 1500s and leaves out quite a lot of history before hand. I Was interested more in the ORIGINS of the "Persian" people, who are they really?
2 people found this helpful
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- Stephan
- 21-01-19
Good, detailed account.
Amanat's book is the fruit of much research into what had been an oft-troubled, but fascinating, 500 years of Iran's modern history. Well-narrated as usual by Mr Perkins.
1 person found this helpful
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- Masoud
- 10-10-18
A relevant point
Mr. Amanat tried and did a great job to create a detail picture of the all elements with their historic background that shapes today Iran political, and cultural landscape. He talks about Shariah and Mojtahedin, but avoids talking about fundamentalism Shiih and it's role in shaping Sunni fundamentalism.
2 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 13-09-18
An amazing story
Well written and narrated. this book is based on a good research of Iranian history.
1 person found this helpful
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- Parissa
- 22-10-18
An excellent scholarly work
This is a thorough, comprehensive serious and scholarly work, discussing the evolution of Iranian socio-economic history from the Safavid period to the present day. I found the 19th and 20th century accounts most interesting. Although there is a leitmotiv of the various dynasties seeking legitimacy by harping back to the Safavid period, I would have been equally happy had the book started with the Qajar dynasty. The book is particularly well read and although there are some slight mispronunciations, it's as good a reading as any non-Persian speaker could have rendered.
6 people found this helpful
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- Aaron
- 28-01-19
One of the most comprehensive, detailed, unbiased and informative books on all aspects of modern history of Iran
One of the most comprehensive books, entailing all detailed aspects of foreign, social, local and religious influences on iranian politics. The book is very engaging, bringing different aspects and layers of each era of Iran’s history into life. The only problem I had was with certain parts if the narrator. As much as I fully enjoyed Derek Perkin’s narration, there are certain names that he fully mispronounces on some occasions and pronounces fully correct on others. The inconsistencies are annoying. Also some names are lazily mispronounced (not too difficult to double check). Other than that, 5 stars!
4 people found this helpful
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- Mr. Anthony Carney
- 21-08-18
Soporific
Sadly only somnolent. It should have been a thrilling text. Whenever you hear the term "agency" be ready to fear the subsequent 60 mins. I doubt whether the author leaves his chair much..no original insights. No feel for social organization or living standards. The narrator appears to be on a long term lithium course.
4 people found this helpful
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- Anne
- 06-09-20
A thought provoking glimpse into history.
Totally delighted. A must read for those interested in civilization, cultural history, religious influence on a people and the unfolding dramas of the modern era.
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- Mahdi Jalili
- 05-09-20
Informative but biased
Really interesting and informative piece upto islamic revolution. The bias is overwhelming from the Islamic revolution onwards with disproportionate focus given to certain groups as well as having more of a commentary stance rather than a balanced apparoach