Abbas Amanat is William Graham Sumner Professor of History at Yale University and director of the Yale Program in Iranian Studies at the MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies. He lives in North Haven, CT.
“The defiant spirit of the country is brought to life in this
monumental history of the past 500 years.”—Richard Spencer,
The Times (London)
“No book could be more pertinent for American readers . . . Mr.
Amanat searches for patterns to make [Iran’s] tumultuous history
lucid to nonspecialist readers. . . His account, in all its
melancholy splendor, comes to embody what the 20th-century Iranian
poet Forough Farrokhzad called ‘a sorrowful stroll in the garden of
memories.’”—Eric Ormsby, The Wall Street Journal
“For those with an interest in this pivotal and mercurial country,
Abbas Amanat’s magisterial study is too important to
ignore.”—Justin Marozzi, Sunday Times (London)
“A majestic work that goes a long way in unraveling for an American
audience the country’s enigmas and apparent contradictions.”—Ervand
Abrahamian, The New York Review of Books
“Amanat is a skillful narrator whose use of sources and anecdotes
is illuminating. His book should be read by anyone who is curious
about the history of political philosophy and ideas.”—The
Economist
“A fantastic book about a great country - I warmly commend it”—Dr
Stephen Leah, Methodist Recorder
Winner of the Outstanding Academic Title for 2018 Award, sponsored
by Choice
"This sweeping but richly detailed text is an impressive treatment
of the longue durée of Iranian history since 1501.
Amanat interweaves narrative with stimulating analysis and
commentary on culture, society, and politics in Iran with a
skill based on deep scholarship and understanding. It is rare to
find a book that will be important for both those new to
Iranian studies and those already in the field: the former will
find the book an invaluable starting point, and the latter will
gain much from engaging with Amanat’s creative and challenging
insights and arguments."—Joanna de Groot, University of
York
"The appearance of this comprehensive and flowing narrative history
of early modern and modern Iran could not be more timely, given the
deep-seated misunderstandings and prejudices that persist regarding
that country. Few scholars could be as well placed to write it as
Abbas Amanat, who has devoted many decades to studying Iran's
history and culture. This is likely to remain a work of reference
that can be appreciated by students as well as
interested general readers. An impressive
achievement!"—Sanjay Subrahmanyam, Distinguished Professor of
History, UCLA
"Lucid, readable, and erudite, Abbas Amanat's flowing narrative
uses comparisons and connections with the surrounding world to
reveal the dialogical and often defensive character of Iran's
routes to modernity. Amanat highlights the heterogeneous groups and
contending interests that shaped what he calls a 'Persianized
version of modernity.' Balancing analysis of changes in political
economy with the roles of public religion and the persistence of
cultural traditions, this is a compelling and comprehensive
conspectus of Iranian history with a magisterial command of
detail."—Nile Green, University of California, Los Angeles
"Iran is perhaps the most important poorly understood country in
the world--too big and wealthy to ignore, too complex and dynamic
to stereotype. Among this generation of historians of Iran, Abbas
Amanat stands as a giant. He conveys his enormous learning in
eloquent prose, retailing the country's dramatic struggles and
displaying gems of its intricate and profound culture with a
contagious excitement. Those who wish to understand how an early
modern Silk Road monarchy transformed into a contemporary
petroleum-fueled theocracy will find no more informed or
captivating guide."—Juan Cole, Richard P. Mitchell Professor of
History and Director, Center for Middle Eastern and North African
Studies, University of Michigan
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