Overview

Bringing together eighteen essays from Homa Katouzian, this book explores Iranian history, politics, culture and Persian literature from mediaeval times through the nineteenth century and into the contemporary period. Beginning with an overview of mediaeval Iranian history, the book then considers developments in the nineteenth century leading to the Constitutional Revolution of 1906-1911, which resulted in the fall of the Qajar dynasty (1785-1925). This is followed by a comprehensive overview of the Pahlavi monarchy (1925-1979) and a new and original analysis of the Iranian Revolution of February 1979. The book also includes essays on modern and classical Persian literature, encompassing Persian poetry and politics (1919-1925), the hitherto unstudied humour in Sadeq Hedayat’s life and works, a critical study of Forugh Farrokhzad, a study of Persian literary devices with special reference to the great Persian classic Sa‘di, and a study of Sa‘di as a lover of beauty and advocate of human morality. The book analyses Iran in a way that has seldom been done in one single volume – the history of the Qajar and Pahlavi dynasties, the two great revolutions in the twentieth century, and the unfamiliar nature of state and society in Iranian history, as well as some of the high points in modern and classical Persian literature – and is vital reading for anyone interested in the Middle East.

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9781032934969

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Reviews

""This lively and varied collection of articles is classic Katouzian: analytical, erudite, and deeply learned, the product of a lifetime’s research. With remarkable breadth, the book ranges across everything from tax systems and revolutions to Islamic law, cultural criticism, modernist literature, and the wonders of Sa'di's poetry. Katouzian, arguably the last true great Iranshenas or Iranologist of his generation, offers a masterclass in interdisciplinary scholarship. For anyone interested in the history, society, and culture of modern Iran, this work is an essential read."" Eskandar Sadeghi-Boroujerdi, University of York, United Kingdom

Author Information

Homa Katouzian is an economist, historian, political scientist and literary critic. He has been senior lecturer in economics at the University of Kent; visiting professor of economics at the University of California, Los Angeles; visiting professor of sociology at the University of California, San Diego; and research fellow at St Antony’s College and member of the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Oxford. His numerous books include The Persians: Ancient, Mediaeval and Modern Iran; Sadeq Hedayat: The Life and Legend of an Iranian Writer; Iranian History and Politics: The Dialectic of State and Society; and Humour in Iran: Eleven-Hundred Years of Satire and Humour in Persian Literature.

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