Introduction
Part I: Spring
1 East of Eden
2 Tashrifat
3 The Amateurs
4 The Professionals
5 The Man from Manila
6 War and Peace
Part II: Summer
7 “The Sordid Side”
8 The Warrior-King
9 Hello Johnny
10 Tehran Spring
11 “One Penny More”
12 The Liberty Bell and the Wool Pajamas
13 1953
Part III: Autumn
14 “Yes” and “Yes, Sir”
15 You Say You Want a Revolution?
16 This Turbulent Priest
17 The Final Emperor
18 The Unthinkable
Part IV: Winter
19 1979 309
20 Dulce et Decorum Est
21 Goodwill Hunting
22 The First Hopey-Changey Moment
23 That September Day
24 The Moral Cold War
25 Atoms for Peace?
26 Designed to Fail
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
Archival sources
Notes
Index
Illustration credits
An epic history revealing how the US and Iran went from allies to adversaries over three hundred years
John Ghazvinianis a historian at the University of Pennsylvania. He was born in Iran, raised in London and Los Angeles, and has a doctorate in history from the University of Oxford. He is the author of Untapped: The Scramble for Africa’s Oiland he has written for the Sunday Times, New Statesman, Slate and The Nation. He lives in Philadelphia.
‘Delightfully readable, genuinely informative and impressively
literate.’
*Abbas Milani, New York Times*
‘Ghazvinian recounts a tragic story of Iranian overtures spurned by
Americans in cahoots with their Israeli and Saudi allies…
Ghazvinian has a witty style.’
*The Economist*
‘This book presents the long, troubled relationship between the
United States and Iran in a breezy and supple narrative, replete
with poignant anecdotes, to posit convincingly that “antagonism
between Iran and America is wholly unnecessary”.’
*New York Times, 100 Notable Books of 2021*
‘a stimulating and well-written study of one of the key
relationships in today’s world.’
*Literary Review*
‘a magnificent, bold, wide-reaching and potentially significant
book on the thorny subject of Iranian-American relations… throws
fresh historical light on the original exchanges between Americans
and Iranians, and shows us fascinating historical characters,
brought vividly to life with pen portraits and amusing anecdotes…
The framing of the book into four seasons, ending with winter, is a
stroke of genius as it lends to [Ghazvinian’s] overall argument a
poignant resonance: there are better days ahead… This is history as
history should be written: accessible, humane, thoughtful,
insightful and in places extremely funny… someone just has to get a
copy of this book to the White House, fast.’
*Charlie Gammell, Catholic Herald*
‘Iran’s Islamic Revolution is just one small dot on a much wider
trajectory of Iranian history this book explores with rigorous
analysis, invaluable interviews, and archival evidence – from Iran
and the United States… a compelling and insightful read. It tells a
nuanced version of history that is normally presented as a
catastrophic eschatological clash of civilisations… Ghazvinian
eschews these headline-grabbing histrionics and makes a much more
convincing argument instead.’
*J P O'Malley, Irish Examiner*
‘An important, urgently needed book – a hugely ambitious,
illuminating portrait of the entwined histories of Iran and
America, and the first book to examine, in all its aspects, the
rich and fraught relations between these two powers.’
*Kirkus, starred review*
‘History in the hands of a master.’
*Ambassador John Limbert, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State
for Iran (2009–10), and hostage in the US Embassy in Tehran
(1979–81)*
‘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.’
*Hooman Majd, author of The Ayatollah Begs to Differ*
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