Overview

It is quite possible that before too long the Iranian people will chase the Pahlavi dictator and his associates from power… So wrote historian Fred Halliday in the conclusion to this prescient work on Iran in the twentieth century. Just months later the revolution of 1979 saw Shah Reza Pahlavi ousted and an Islamic theocracy established under Ayatollah Khomeini. Following a contextual study of the origins of the Iranian state, Halliday focuses on the period from the early 1960s to 1978, when protests swept the nation for the first time in fifteen years. Through an interdisciplinary approach, he assesses the economic, social and political conditions, taking in the nation’s uneven capitalist development, opposition movements and state repression, and the alliance between the Shah and the United States. Even three decades on, this classic study – unique in its proximity to the revolution – offers many insights into why and how the Shah’s reign came to an end.

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Reviews

‘It is impossible to exaggerate the significance of Halliday’s magisterial study for an entire generation of students of Iranian social and political history. Today it stands as a landmark of the particularly crucial decades between the US-UK coup of 1953 and the collapse of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1977–9.’ -- Hamid Dabashi, Hagop Kevorkian Professor of Iranian Studies and Comparative Literature, Columbia University ‘This new edition...with Sadeghi-Boroujerdi’s thoughtful introduction is essential reading for anyone interested in understanding Pahlavi-era Iran on its own terms and not merely as the background to the 1979 revolution.’ -- Naghmeh Sohrabi, Charles (Corky) Goodman Professor of Middle East History, Brandeis University ‘Remarkable...almost miraculously timely...a carefully written, well-researched and deeply serious account of modern Iran.’ * Spectator * ‘Well-timed and prophetic...thoroughly researched.’ * Telegraph * ‘Much original analysis and relevant information not previously gathered together in any one book.’ * Tribune * ‘One of the most important scholars of his generation.’ * Millennium: Journal of International Studies * ‘Present[s] a rigorous and comprehensive analysis of Iranian society in the 1960s and 1970s… Halliday’s volume is a most welcome addition to the literature. Written on the very eve of the revolution in 1978 (except for an appended twelve-page “Afterword” dated March 1979), Iran: Dictatorship and Development is a significant contribution toward an understanding of the ancien régime and also provides some insights into the causes of the revolution.’ * Iranian Studies * ‘Halliday provides us both with a framework for understanding [the revolution] in Iran, and an acute insight into the social forces in struggle. His array of sources is impressive, including not only secondary works but a wide and significant range of first-hand interviews and accounts.’ * Race & Class * ‘Published almost simultaneously with the climax of [the Iranian Revolution]…the second edition includes the added bonus of an account of the rebellion and its aftermath. Halliday’s book not only fills a gap in the serious literature…but provides a valuable analysis of the nature of the Pahlavi state and the roots of its instability.’ * Third World Quarterly *

‘This new edition...with Sadeghi-Boroujerdi’s thoughtful introduction is essential reading for anyone interested in understanding Pahlavi-era Iran on its own terms and not merely as the background to the 1979 revolution.’ -- Naghmeh Sohrabi, Charles (Corky) Goodman Professor of Middle East History, Brandeis University ‘Remarkable...almost miraculously timely...a carefully written, well-researched and deeply serious account of modern Iran.’ * Spectator * ‘Well-timed and prophetic...thoroughly researched.’ * Telegraph * ‘Much original analysis and relevant information not previously gathered together in any one book.’ * Tribune * ‘One of the most important scholars of his generation.’ * Millennium: Journal of International Studies * ‘Present[s] a rigorous and comprehensive analysis of Iranian society in the 1960s and 1970s… Halliday’s volume is a most welcome addition to the literature. Written on the very eve of the revolution in 1978 (except for an appended twelve-page “Afterword” dated March 1979), Iran: Dictatorship and Development is a significant contribution toward an understanding of the ancien régime and also provides some insights into the causes of the revolution.’ * Iranian Studies * ‘Halliday provides us both with a framework for understanding [the revolution] in Iran, and an acute insight into the social forces in struggle. His array of sources is impressive, including not only secondary works but a wide and significant range of first-hand interviews and accounts.’ * Race & Class * ‘Published almost simultaneously with the climax of [the Iranian Revolution]…the second edition includes the added bonus of an account of the rebellion and its aftermath. Halliday’s book not only fills a gap in the serious literature…but provides a valuable analysis of the nature of the Pahlavi state and the roots of its instability.’ * Third World Quarterly *

‘Remarkable...almost miraculously timely...a carefully written, well-researched and deeply serious account of modern Iran.’ * Spectator * ‘Well-timed and prophetic...thoroughly researched.’ * Telegraph * ‘Much original analysis and relevant information not previously gathered together in any one book.’ * Tribune * ‘One of the most important scholars of his generation.’ * Millennium: Journal of International Studies * ‘Present[s] a rigorous and comprehensive analysis of Iranian society in the 1960s and 1970s… Halliday’s volume is a most welcome addition to the literature. Written on the very eve of the revolution in 1978 (except for an appended twelve-page “Afterword” dated March 1979), Iran: Dictatorship and Development is a significant contribution toward an understanding of the ancien régime and also provides some insights into the causes of the revolution.’ * Iranian Studies * ‘Halliday provides us both with a framework for understanding [the revolution] in Iran, and an acute insight into the social forces in struggle. His array of sources is impressive, including not only secondary works but a wide and significant range of first-hand interviews and accounts.’ * Race & Class * ‘Published almost simultaneously with the climax of [the Iranian Revolution]…the second edition includes the added bonus of an account of the rebellion and its aftermath. Halliday’s book not only fills a gap in the serious literature…but provides a valuable analysis of the nature of the Pahlavi state and the roots of its instability.’ * Third World Quarterly *

Author Information

Fred Halliday was Professor Emeritus of International Relations at the London School of Economics and Research Professor at the Barcelona Institute for International Studies. A Middle East specialist, he authored many articles and books, including Islam and the Myth of Confrontation, The Middle East in International Relations and Two Hours that Shook the World.

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