Iran
A Modern History
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wish list failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 3 months for $0.99/mo
Buy Now for $7.99
-
Narrated by:
-
Derek Perkins
-
Written by:
-
Abbas Amanat
About this listen
This history of modern Iran is not a survey in the conventional sense but an ambitious exploration of the story of a nation. It offers a revealing look at how events, people, and institutions are shaped by currents that sometimes reach back hundreds of years. The book covers the complex history of the diverse societies and economies of Iran against the background of dynastic changes, revolutions, civil wars, foreign occupation, and the rise of the Islamic Republic.
Abbas Amanat combines chronological and thematic approaches, exploring events with lasting implications for modern Iran and the world. Drawing on diverse historical scholarship and emphasizing the 20th century, he addresses debates about Iran's culture and politics.
Political history is the driving narrative force, given impetus by Amanat's decades of research and study. He layers the book with discussions of literature, music, and the arts; ideology and religion; economy and society; and cultural identity and heritage.
©2017 Yale University (P)2018 TantorYou may also enjoy...
-
The Napoleonic Wars
- Written by: Alexander Mikaberidze
- Narrated by: Steven Crossley
- Length: 35 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall20
-
Performance18
-
Story18
The Napoleonic Wars saw fighting on an unprecedented scale in Europe and the Americas. It took the wealth of the British Empire, combined with the might of the continental armies, almost two decades to bring down one of the world's greatest military leaders and the empire that he had created. Napoleon's ultimate defeat was to determine the history of Europe for almost 100 years. From the frozen wastelands of Russia, through the brutal fighting in the Peninsula to the blood-soaked battlefield of Waterloo, this book tells the story of the dramatic rise and fall of the Napoleonic Empire.
-
-
informative and broad.
- By bill on 2021-03-11
Written by: Alexander Mikaberidze
-
Rome and Persia
- The Seven Hundred Year Rivalry
- Written by: Adrian Goldsworthy
- Narrated by: Mark Elstob
- Length: 20 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5
-
Performance3
-
Story3
The epic rivalry between the ancient world’s two great superpowers The Roman empire was like no other. 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. Its only true rival lay in the...
-
-
Informative overview of Persian/Roman wars. BUT...
- By Sam on 2024-10-21
Written by: Adrian Goldsworthy
-
Collapse
- The Fall of the Soviet Union
- Written by: Vladislav M. Zubok
- Narrated by: David de Vries
- Length: 23 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall18
-
Performance16
-
Story17
In 1945, the Soviet Union controlled half of Europe and was a founding member of the United Nations. By 1991, it had an army four million strong, 5,000 nuclear-tipped missiles, and was the second biggest producer of oil in the world. But soon afterward, the union sank into an economic crisis and was torn apart by nationalist separatism. Its collapse was one of the seismic shifts of the 20th century.
-
-
A phenomenal history of the dissolution of the USSR
- By Anonymous on 2023-05-24
Written by: Vladislav M. Zubok
-
Battle Cry of Freedom
- The Civil War Era
- Written by: James M. McPherson
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 39 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall19
-
Performance13
-
Story12
Battle Cry of Freedom vividly traces how a new nation was forged when a war both sides were sure would amount to little dragged for four years and cost more American lives than all other wars combined. Narrator Jonathan Davis powerful reading brings to life the many voices of the Civil War.
-
-
Earned its Pulitzer
- By Dr Steve Carr on 2023-07-06
Written by: James M. McPherson
-
Storynomics
- Story-Driven Marketing in the Post-Advertising World
- Written by: Robert McKee, Thomas Gerace
- Narrated by: Robert McKee, Thomas Gerace
- Length: 6 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall13
-
Performance13
-
Story11
Based on the hottest, most in-demand seminar offered by the legendary story master Robert McKee -- Storynomics translates the lessons of storytelling in business into economic and leadership success. Robert McKee's popular writing workshops have earned him an international reputation. The list...
-
-
Best book on purposeful storytelling I've read.
- By J-Ryze on 2019-07-05
Written by: Robert McKee, and others
-
Europe
- A History
- Written by: Norman Davies
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 61 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall49
-
Performance41
-
Story41
Norman Davies captures it all - the rise and fall of Rome, the sweeping invasions of Alaric and Atilla, the Norman Conquests, the Papal struggles for power, the Renaissance and the Reformation, the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars, Europe's rise to become the powerhouse of the world, and its eclipse in our own century, following two devastating World Wars.
-
-
Generally good...
- By Amazon Customer on 2021-02-06
Written by: Norman Davies
-
The Napoleonic Wars
- Written by: Alexander Mikaberidze
- Narrated by: Steven Crossley
- Length: 35 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall20
-
Performance18
-
Story18
The Napoleonic Wars saw fighting on an unprecedented scale in Europe and the Americas. It took the wealth of the British Empire, combined with the might of the continental armies, almost two decades to bring down one of the world's greatest military leaders and the empire that he had created. Napoleon's ultimate defeat was to determine the history of Europe for almost 100 years. From the frozen wastelands of Russia, through the brutal fighting in the Peninsula to the blood-soaked battlefield of Waterloo, this book tells the story of the dramatic rise and fall of the Napoleonic Empire.
-
-
informative and broad.
- By bill on 2021-03-11
Written by: Alexander Mikaberidze
-
Rome and Persia
- The Seven Hundred Year Rivalry
- Written by: Adrian Goldsworthy
- Narrated by: Mark Elstob
- Length: 20 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5
-
Performance3
-
Story3
The epic rivalry between the ancient world’s two great superpowers The Roman empire was like no other. 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. Its only true rival lay in the...
-
-
Informative overview of Persian/Roman wars. BUT...
- By Sam on 2024-10-21
Written by: Adrian Goldsworthy
-
Collapse
- The Fall of the Soviet Union
- Written by: Vladislav M. Zubok
- Narrated by: David de Vries
- Length: 23 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall18
-
Performance16
-
Story17
In 1945, the Soviet Union controlled half of Europe and was a founding member of the United Nations. By 1991, it had an army four million strong, 5,000 nuclear-tipped missiles, and was the second biggest producer of oil in the world. But soon afterward, the union sank into an economic crisis and was torn apart by nationalist separatism. Its collapse was one of the seismic shifts of the 20th century.
-
-
A phenomenal history of the dissolution of the USSR
- By Anonymous on 2023-05-24
Written by: Vladislav M. Zubok
-
Battle Cry of Freedom
- The Civil War Era
- Written by: James M. McPherson
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 39 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall19
-
Performance13
-
Story12
Battle Cry of Freedom vividly traces how a new nation was forged when a war both sides were sure would amount to little dragged for four years and cost more American lives than all other wars combined. Narrator Jonathan Davis powerful reading brings to life the many voices of the Civil War.
-
-
Earned its Pulitzer
- By Dr Steve Carr on 2023-07-06
Written by: James M. McPherson
-
Storynomics
- Story-Driven Marketing in the Post-Advertising World
- Written by: Robert McKee, Thomas Gerace
- Narrated by: Robert McKee, Thomas Gerace
- Length: 6 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall13
-
Performance13
-
Story11
Based on the hottest, most in-demand seminar offered by the legendary story master Robert McKee -- Storynomics translates the lessons of storytelling in business into economic and leadership success. Robert McKee's popular writing workshops have earned him an international reputation. The list...
-
-
Best book on purposeful storytelling I've read.
- By J-Ryze on 2019-07-05
Written by: Robert McKee, and others
-
Europe
- A History
- Written by: Norman Davies
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 61 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall49
-
Performance41
-
Story41
Norman Davies captures it all - the rise and fall of Rome, the sweeping invasions of Alaric and Atilla, the Norman Conquests, the Papal struggles for power, the Renaissance and the Reformation, the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars, Europe's rise to become the powerhouse of the world, and its eclipse in our own century, following two devastating World Wars.
-
-
Generally good...
- By Amazon Customer on 2021-02-06
Written by: Norman Davies
-
Revolt Against the Modern World
- Politics, Religion, and Social Order in the Kali Yuga
- Written by: Julius Evola
- Narrated by: Michael Moynihan
- Length: 17 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall7
-
Performance4
-
Story4
With unflinching gaze and uncompromising intensity Julius Evola analyzes the spiritual and cultural malaise at the heart of Western civilization and all that passes for progress in the modern world. As a gadfly, Evola spares no one and nothing in his survey of what we have lost and where we are...
-
-
Reject Modernity, Return to Monke
- By Mitchell Langdon on 2022-03-15
Written by: Julius Evola
-
Empireworld
- How British Imperialism Shaped the Globe
- Written by: Sathnam Sanghera
- Narrated by: Homer Todiwala
- Length: 11 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall0
-
Performance0
-
Story0
Bestselling author and journalist Sathnam Sanghera explores the global legacy of the British Empire, and the ways it continues to influence economics, politics, and culture around the world. 2.6 billion people are inhabitants of former British colonies. The empire's influence upon the quarter of...
Written by: Sathnam Sanghera
-
One Long Night
- A Global History of Concentration Camps
- Written by: Andrea Pitzer
- Narrated by: Andrea Pitzer
- Length: 14 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall2
-
Performance2
-
Story2
A groundbreaking, haunting, and profoundly moving history of modernity's greatest tragedy: concentration camps. For over 100 years, at least one concentration camp has existed somewhere on Earth. First used as battlefield strategy, camps have evolved with each passing decade, in the scope of...
Written by: Andrea Pitzer
-
Synchronicity
- The Epic Quest to Understand the Quantum Nature of Cause and Effect
- Written by: Paul Halpern
- Narrated by: Jeff Hoyt
- Length: 10 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall1
-
Performance1
-
Story1
From Aristotle's Physics to quantum teleportation, learn about the scientific pursuit of instantaneous connections in this insightful examination of our world. For millennia, scientists have puzzled over a simple question: Does the universe have a speed limit? If not, some effects could happen...
Written by: Paul Halpern
-
Languages of Truth
- Essays 2003-2020
- Written by: Salman Rushdie
- Narrated by: Raj Ghatak, Salman Rushdie
- Length: 13 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall3
-
Performance3
-
Story3
Newly collected, revised, and expanded nonfiction from the first two decades of the twenty-first century—including many texts never previously in print—by the Booker Prize–winning, internationally bestselling author Longlisted for the PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the...
Written by: Salman Rushdie
-
It Can't Happen Here
- Written by: Sinclair Lewis
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 14 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall19
-
Performance16
-
Story16
Doremus Jessup, a newspaper editor, is dismayed to find that many of the people he knows support presidential candidate Berzelius Windrip. The suspiciously fascist Windrip is offering to save the nation from sex, crime, welfare cheats, and a liberal press. But after Windrip wins the election, dissent soon becomes dangerous for Jessup. Windrip forcibly gains control of Congress and the Supreme Court and, with the aid of his personal paramilitary storm troopers, turns the United States into a totalitarian state.
-
-
Meh
- By Michael Broks on 2020-07-27
Written by: Sinclair Lewis
-
Ride the Tiger
- A Survival Manual for the Aristocrats of the Soul
- Written by: Julius Evola, Joscelyn Godwin - translator, Constance Fontana - translator
- Narrated by: Andy Rick
- Length: 10 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall9
-
Performance8
-
Story8
Julius Evola’s final major work, which examines the prototype of the human being who can give absolute meaning to his or her life in a world of dissolution Presents a powerful criticism of the idols, structures, theories, and illusions of our modern age Reveals how to transform...
-
-
Don't despair but don't succumb
- By Marcus on 2022-08-04
Written by: Julius Evola, and others
-
SPQR
- A History of Ancient Rome
- Written by: Mary Beard
- Narrated by: Phyllida Nash
- Length: 18 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall117
-
Performance94
-
Story95
In SPQR, world-renowned classicist Mary Beard narrates the unprecedented rise of a civilization that even 2,000 years later still shapes many of our most fundamental assumptions about power, citizenship, responsibility, political violence, empire, luxury, and beauty.
-
-
watch her on tv
- By Mackenzie on 2019-07-12
Written by: Mary Beard
-
The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt
- Written by: Toby Wilkinson
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 18 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall39
-
Performance31
-
Story31
In this landmark work, one of the world's most renowned Egyptologists tells the epic story of this great civilization, from its birth as the first nation-state to its final absorption into the Roman Empire - 3,000 years of wild drama, bold spectacle, and unforgettable characters. Award-winning scholar Toby Wilkinson captures not only the lavish pomp and artistic grandeur of this land of pyramids and pharaohs but for the first time reveals the constant propaganda and repression that were its foundations.
-
-
Really Enoyable
- By Liri on 2018-12-15
Written by: Toby Wilkinson
-
Poland 1939
- The Outbreak of World War II
- Written by: Roger Moorhouse
- Narrated by: Roger Moorhouse
- Length: 12 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall11
-
Performance11
-
Story11
A "chilling" and "expertly" written history of the 1939 September Campaign and the onset of World War II (Times of London). For Americans, World War II began in December of 1941, with the bombing of Pearl Harbor; but for Poland, the war began on September 1, 1939, when Hitler's soldiers invaded...
-
-
Easy to follow account
- By Anonymous on 2025-01-16
Written by: Roger Moorhouse
-
Emperor of Rome
- Ruling the Ancient World
- Written by: Mary Beard
- Narrated by: Mary Beard
- Length: 14 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall10
-
Performance8
-
Story8
In her international bestseller SPQR, Mary Beard told the thousand-year story of ancient Rome. Now she shines her spotlight on the emperors who ruled the Roman empire, from Julius Caesar (assassinated 44 BCE) to Alexander Severus (assassinated 235 CE). Emperor of Rome is not your usual chronological account of Roman rulers, one after another: the mad Caligula, the monster Nero, the philosopher Marcus Aurelius.
-
-
How to be an Emperor
- By Williamanon on 2025-01-15
Written by: Mary Beard
-
Nausea (New Directions Paperbook)
- Written by: Jean-Paul Sartre
- Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini
- Length: 8 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall11
-
Performance9
-
Story9
Sartre's greatest novel and existentialism's key text, now introduced by James Wood, and read by the inimitable Edoardo Ballerini. Nausea is the story of Antoine Roquentin, a French writer who is horrified at his own existence. In impressionistic, diary form, he ruthlessly catalogs his every feeling and sensation.
Written by: Jean-Paul Sartre
"It is only sound that remains"
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
As the publisher says, the author discusses literature, music, arts, ideology, religion, economy and society, cultural identity, and heritage. This breathes life, context, and breadth into an understanding of modern Iran.
Thorough as it was, the book leaves me wanting more, although at the start I couldn’t imagine having the appetite for more about Iran than the girth this book offered. A greater focus on foreign relations of the Islamic Republic would be welcome to shed light on its nuclear ambitions, regional influence, and its strategy about Israel. Perhaps the historian does not have sufficient archival material to feel confident about these topics because they are so contemporary, but internal politics of the same period have been discussed nevertheless and unsparing judgments made.
Understand Modern Iran with one book
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The story is told in details but with such narrative structure and accessible prose that one can think of this book as a historical novel whose hero, the savior of the castle is art, poetry and relentless resistance to hegemony.
The most intriguing part of the story is how with factually accurate examples, the author illustrates that today’s Islamic Republic is in essence on the same nation building and foreign resisting path that the Safavid and Pahlavi kings have tried before.
I wish all diplomats and politicians who deal with Iran be mandated to read this timely and important book.
An exquisitely told story of a surviving and thriving nation.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
My only complaint was the lack of depth in covering foreign relations, especially in the post revolutionary era. Did Iran or did they not, and to what extent did the government fund terrorist groups and activity. The author does not even touch this issue.
Definitely recommend this book.
Excellent history of Iran from Safavid era to near present.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The ending epilogue masterfully draws on common threads throughout ages and allows a reader with knowledge of current events to appreciate the qanat like undercurrents that have been in the making for centuries to surface.
The performance has frequent prononciation mistakes when reading the Farsi equivalent of some words but overall job well done!
Fantastic Vignette into Irans Modern History
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.