
America and Iran
A History, 1720 to the Present
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Narrated by:
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Fred Sanders
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By:
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John Ghazvinian
About this listen
A 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 18th 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 US-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.
©2020 John Ghazvinian (P)2020 Random House AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
"An expert on Iran delineates the massive rift between the erstwhile 'closest of allies' ... relevant, highly elucidating ... an evenhanded, revelatory narrative in which the author avoids muddying the waters with an overtly political agenda. An excellent single-volume history of a fraught international relationship." (Kirkus starred review)
"Ghazvinian describes in exquisite detail the relationship between Iran and the United States - from its inception in the years before the American Revolution to the present day. Beautifully laid out and at time reading like a thriller you don't want to put down ... Ghazvinian deftly shows us when, where, and why things went (and still do go) wrong. If ever the question 'why do they hate us' arises in the Iranian context, just read this book." (Hooman Majd, author of The Ayatollah Begs to Differ)
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Performance
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The Iranian Revolution of 1979 was a defining moment of the modern era. Its success unleashed a wave of Islamist fervor across the Middle East and signaled a sharp decline in the appeal of Western ideologies in the Islamic world. Michael Axworthy takes listeners through the major periods in Iranian history over the last 30 years: the overthrow of the old regime and the creation of the new one; the Iran-Iraq war; the reconstruction era following the war; the reformist wave led by Mohammed Khatami; and the present day, in which reactionaries have re-established control.
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Questionable Narration
- By Arya Pourtabatabaie on 07-17-21
By: Michael Axworthy
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Target Tehran
- How Israel Is Using Sabotage, Cyberwarfare, Assassination – and Secret Diplomacy – to Stop a Nuclear Iran and Create a New Middle East
- By: Yonah Jeremy Bob, Ilan Evyatar
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 11 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Yonah Bob and Ilan Evyatar describe how Israel has used cyberwarfare, targeted assassinations, and sabotage of Iranian facilities to great effect, sometimes in cooperation with the United States. Even as it takes lethal action, Israel has managed to alter the politics of the Middle East, culminating in the Abraham Accords of 2020. Arab states such as Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates normalized relations with Israel, and the holy grail of normalization with Saudi Arabia may yet be achieved.
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Couldn’t walk away !
- By ADAM on 01-10-24
By: Yonah Jeremy Bob, and others
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The Twilight War
- The Secret History of America's Thirty-Year Conflict with Iran
- By: David Crist
- Narrated by: Peter Berkrot
- Length: 25 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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For the past three decades, the United States and Iran have been engaged in an unacknowledged secret war. This conflict has frustrated five American presidents, divided administrations, and repeatedly threatened to bring the two nations to the brink of open warfare. Drawing upon unparalleled access to senior officials and key documents of several US administrations, David Crist, a senior historian in the federal government, breaks new ground in virtually every section of The Twilight War.
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Most authoritative book on conflict on Iran, hands down.
- By David T on 07-14-19
By: David Crist
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The Fall of Heaven
- The Pahlavis and the Final Days of Imperial Iran
- By: Andrew Scott Cooper
- Narrated by: Assaf Cohen
- Length: 22 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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In this remarkably human portrait of one of the 20th century's most complicated personalities, author Andrew Scott Cooper traces Mohammad Reza Pahlavi's life from childhood through his ascension to the throne in 1941. He highlights the turbulence of the postwar era, during which the shah survived assassination attempts and coup plots to build a modern, pro-Western state and launch Iran onto the world stage as one of the world's top five powers.
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Excellent account of a pivotal and sad time
- By Guerin Shea on 09-05-16
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The Last Shah
- America, Iran, and the Fall of the Pahlavi Dynasty
- By: Ray Takeyh
- Narrated by: Eric Jason Martin
- Length: 13 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Offering a new view of one of America's most important, infamously strained, and widely misunderstood relationships of the postwar era, this book tells the history of America and Iran from the time the last shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, was placed on the throne in 1941 to the 1979 revolution that brought the present Islamist government to power.
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Excellent
- By Wayne S Davis on 06-27-25
By: Ray Takeyh
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Pivot of the Universe
- Nasir al-Din Shah and the Iranian Monarchy, 1831-1896
- By: Abbas Amanat
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 21 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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When he was assassinated in 1896, Nasir al-Din Shah had sat on the Peacock throne for nearly half a century. A colorful, complex figure, he is frequently portrayed as indolent and self-indulgent. Yet he was in many ways an effective ruler who displayed exceptional resilience in the face of dilemmas and vulnerabilities shared by most monarchs of the Islamic world in the 19th century. In this book-the first in English about Nasir al-Din Shah, Abbas Amanat gives us both a biography of the man and an analysis of the institution of monarchy in modern Iran.
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History
- By ahmad farzad md on 08-09-23
By: Abbas Amanat
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The Ayatollah Begs to Differ
- The Paradox of Modern Iran
- By: Hooman Majd
- Narrated by: Hooman Majd
- Length: 9 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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The grandson of an eminent ayatollah and the son of an Iranian diplomat, journalist Hooman Majd is uniquely qualified to explain contemporary Iran's complex and misunderstood culture to Western listeners. The Ayatollah Begs to Differ provides an intimate look at a paradoxical country that is both deeply religious and highly cosmopolitan, authoritarian yet informed by a history of democratic and reformist traditions.
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Good book that dodges some tougher questions
- By Walter on 08-30-09
By: Hooman Majd
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Iran Rising
- The Survival and Future of the Islamic Republic
- By: Amin Saikal
- Narrated by: Simon Shepherd
- Length: 11 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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When Iranians overthrew their monarchy, rejecting a pro-Western shah in favor of an Islamic regime, many observers predicted that revolutionary turmoil would paralyze the country for decades to come. Yet 40 years after the 1978-79 revolution, Iran has emerged as a critical player in the Middle East and the wider world, as demonstrated in part by the 2015 international nuclear agreement. In Iran Rising, renowned Iran specialist Amin Saikal describes how the country has managed to survive despite ongoing domestic struggles, Western sanctions, and other serious challenges.
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The book doesn't match it's description
- By Anonymous User on 12-17-24
By: Amin Saikal
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The Persian Night
- Iran from Khomeini to Ahmadinejad
- By: Amir Taheri
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 14 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Three decades after Khomeinist thugs raided the U.S. embassy in Tehran, Westerners are puzzled by Iran. As a nation, Iranians still like the United States. As a revolutionary regime, however, Iran is the principal bastion of anti-Americanism. From Ayatollah Khomeini's "historic mission" to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's messianic campaign in the name of the "Hidden Imam," The Persian Night depicts a trajectory that will most likely lead to war.
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a disappointing book
- By Biljana on 04-11-11
By: Amir Taheri
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The Shadow Commander
- Soleimani, the US, and Iran’s Global Ambitions
- By: Arash Azizi
- Narrated by: Eric Jason Martin
- Length: 10 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Until his assassination by US drone strike in January 2020, commander Qassem Soleimani was one of the most powerful men in Iran and the military spearhead for Iranian foreign policy, enacting the wishes of the country's Supreme Leader in the region. A widely popular but also feared maverick operator, he helped to establish the Islamic Republic as a major force in the Middle East, with interventions in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and Yemen. This was a long way from where he began as a youth, living on the margins in a country ruled by a monarch supported by the United States.
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Rather disappointing
- By Aliz on 01-19-21
By: Arash Azizi
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Republics of Myth
- National Narratives and the US-Iran Conflict
- By: Hussein Banai, Malcolm Byrne, John Tirman
- Narrated by: Chris Sorensen
- Length: 13 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Iran and the United States have been at odds for forty years, locked in a cold war that has run the gamut. In Republics of Myth, Hussein Banai, Malcolm Byrne, and John Tirman argue that a major contributing factor to this tenacious enmity is how each nation views itself. Their often-deadly confrontation derives from the very different national narratives that shape their politics, actions, and vision of their own destiny in the world.
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good review of Iran's post-revolution history
- By @enkita on 05-03-22
By: Hussein Banai, and others
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The Scythians
- Nomad Warriors of the Steppe
- By: Barry Cunliffe
- Narrated by: Matthew Waterson
- Length: 8 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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The Scythians were nomadic horsemen who ranged wide across the grasslands of the Asian steppe from the Altai mountains in the east to the Great Hungarian Plain in the first millennium BC. Their steppe homeland bordered on a number of sedentary states to the south and there were, inevitably, numerous interactions between the nomads and their neighbours. The Scythians fought the Persians on a number of occasions, in one battle killing their king and on another occasion driving the invading army of Darius the Great from the steppe.
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Well researched but narrator is terrible
- By John M. on 01-17-21
By: Barry Cunliffe
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The Eagle and the Lion
- Rome, Persia and an Unwinnable Conflict
- By: Adrian Goldsworthy
- Narrated by: Mark Elstob
- Length: 20 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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The Roman empire shaped the culture of the Western world against which all other great powers are compared. Stretching from the north of Britain to the Sahara, and from the Atlantic coast to the Euphrates, it imposed peace and prosperity on an unprecedented scale. However, the exception lay in the east, where the Parthian and then Persian empires ruled over great cities and the trade routes to mysterious lands beyond. This was the place Alexander the Great had swept through, creating a dream of glory and conquest which tantalized Greeks and Romans alike.
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Good Goldsworthy, Not greatest
- By Timothy Hopper on 07-27-23
Insightful, unbiased and perspective shifting
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fantastic
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Enlightening
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Great balance to the traditionally American perspective of Iran.
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The last chapters were more like NIAC publications
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Excellent history
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The US missed many opportunities to resolve the standoff with Iran over the years as the book makes clear. Many of these opportunities over the last few decades are the result of American foreign policy being scripted in Israel rather than in Washington. It is an unfortunate fact that our Congress is merely a lap dog to the Israeli lobby.
This book is worth the time to read and contemplate. The author did a great job and presents a viewpoint that is seldom acknowledged in the general press.
Comprehensive analysis of US Iranian history
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amazing, a MUST read!
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Truly a detailed analysis of complex subject.
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The narrator of the book also did an excellent job.
Outstanding telling of a complex history
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