Her work focuses on gender and sexuality and draws on her experience of growing up in Iran and her involvement with Iranian women of different ages and social strata. These observations, and a wealth of historical documents, form the kernel of this book, which charts the history of the nation's sexual revolution from the nineteenth century to today. What comes across is the extraordinary resilience of the Iranian people, who have drawn on a rich social and cultural heritage to defy the repression and hardship of the Islamist state and its predecessors. It is this resilience, the author concludes, which forms the basis of a sexual revolution taking place in Iran today, one that is promoting reforms in marriage and family laws, and demanding more egalitarian gender and sexual relations.

    Burnett's vivid images of the dizzying events and emotions of that turbulent time illustrate his narrative of the monarchy's destruction, the last-ditch efforts to salvage a secular government, and the establishment of a hard-line regime dominated by religious leaders and the rule of Islamic law. Accompanying Burnett's account is a penetrating foreword by commentator Christiane Amanpour, herself Iranian-born, as well as an essay by celebrated New York Times reporter John Kifner, who shares his own experience of revolution in Iran and reflects upon its decades-long aftermath.Filled with powerful insights into the revolution and its pertinence today, this book is for history and current affairs buffs, photography lovers, and everyone interested in the clash of Islamic fundamentalism and the West.

    But because of its relative diplomatic isolation and the partisan nature of conflicting accounts voiced by different interest groups both inside and outside the country, there is a shortage of hard information about the scale and depth of social change in today's Iran. In this volume, and imposing roster of both internationally renowned Iranian scholars and rising young Iranian academics offer contributions--many based on recent fieldwork--on the nature and evolution of Iran's economy, significant aspects of Iran's changing society, and the dynamics of its domestic and international politics since the 1979 revolution, focusing particularly on the post-Khomeini period. The book will be of great interest not only to Iran specialists, but also to scholars of comparative politics, democratization, social change, politics in the Muslim world, and Middle Eastern studies.

    Poet David Larsen's eagerly anticipated translation of al-Husayn ibn Ahmad ibn Khalawayh's Names of the Lion, rendered "in the procedural spirit of recent avant-garde tradition."

    Combining his ruthless ambition with a desire for stability, he left a far-reaching mark on the society and artistic heritage of Iran, renovating the country's spectacular shrines and transforming its trading relations with the rest of the world. This richly illustrated book brings together an amazing array of treasures that were given to Iran's shrines during Shah 'Abbas's reign. It traces the story of the Safavid dynasty (1501-1722), a period of dynamic religious and political development in Iran. Art and architecture flourished and achieved new heights of beauty and brilliance with the creation of the magnificent shrines at Ardabil, Mashhad and Qum. During this so-called Golden Age of Persian art, Shah 'Abbas renovated these shrines and donated to them priceless works of art including sumptuous carpets, silks, porcelain and albums, many of which are illustrated here in glorious detail. He also created the new capital at Isfahan his crowning artistic achievement where he rebuilt his empire surrounded by an inner circle of great artists and thinkers. From here he encouraged foreigners to come to Iran and welcomed the opportunity to open up trading links with Europe. This fascinating book looks in detail at this turning-point in Iran's history. It investigates the context of Shah Abbass gifts and renovations; it also explores how these shrines functioned in the early seventeenth century and the ways in which practices and beliefs initiated under the Safavids are reflected in the world-famous shrines at Mashhad and Qum of today.

    Shirin Neshat and Kaveh Golestan are perhaps the best-known photographers featured in this publication, which also introduces the work of 34 equally accomplished artists--including Reza Aramesh, Parastou Forouhar, Abbas Kiarostami, Amiral Ghasemi and Shadi Ghadirian. Along with images of their work, some of which has rarely been seen, each photographer contributes a narrative about their life and artistic practice, creating a definitive document on the state of contemporary Iranian photography that transcends Western clichés and misconceptions about the culture of this singular country.

    Each illustrated volume provides access to the theological concepts, personalities, historical events, institutions, and movements that helped shape the history of each religion and the way it is practiced.

    Empires of Ancient Persia looks at the rise and fall of the Persian empires, the daily life of the people, and their influence on subsequent civilizations.

    peacekeepers in their barracks at the Beirut International Airport (BIA) and 58 French paratroopers at their headquarters two miles north of BIA. In this long-awaited book, the Marine Corps commander of the U.S. Multi-National Peacekeeping Force that was destroyed by terrorists in Lebanon tells his story for the first time. Together, these suicide bombings comprised the largest nonnuclear explosion ever recorded and are now recognized as a seminal event leading to the current war on terrorism. Such acts of war revealed a new, highly effective tactic, which complemented the terrorist’s strategic goals—the withdrawal of the peacekeepers and Western influence from Lebanon and a change in U.S. policy.Peacekeepers at War lays out, in detail, a sequence of events leading up to the suicide truck bombings from which one can extrapolate the rationale, motives, and perpetrators behind it. Geraghty argues that the absence of any retribution against the perpetrators emboldened the terrorists to assume they could attack Americans and Western interests with impunity. This led to kidnappings, torture, and the murders of Americans and other Westerners.Peacekeepers at War will be of interest to general readers who want to learn more about this seminal event and its effects on the current global war on terrorism.

    How can it be? Read seven testimonies of Muslims who found true freedom.

    She wore the traditional chador and traveled alone most of the time. "It was difficult to photograph there as a woman," she later recorded. In this body of work, Morath's subjects range from politics and religion to work and commerce, from the shah's palace to the nomad's tent to Zoroaster's sacred shrine. She photographed Iran with the keen vision of an anthropologist, examining religious rituals, costuming, work, sport, music, art and theater in order to document "the continuity--or lack of it--between past and present," as she later put it. Morath's work in Iran presaged her later work in Spain, China and Russia, creating an extensive document of the clash between modernity and tradition in the postwar Middle East. Retrospectively, Inge Morath: Iran recalls a land and a culture that have been profoundly transformed since the Iranian Revolution of 1979. It is a window into the past that provides a singular and timely perspective on Iran in the present.

    Their attempt to settle into family life is disrupted as the country changes government, sets in reforms and is plunged into a war with Iraq which eventually drives the family to attempt to return to Australia. Mirror From Stone is the memoir of Kourosh, as he adjusts to post revolution life in Iran before and during the war. It then follows him as he crosses the border into Pakistan, with people smugglers to re-unite with his family. It is the story of a family's struggle to adapt to a different culture, stay together and above all, find peace.

    Wars, revolutions, coups and the impact of modernism have shaped Iran's historiography, as they have the country's history. Originally based on oral and written sources, which underpinned traditional genealogical and dynastic history, Iran's historiography was transformed in the early 20th century with the development of a 'new' school of presenting history. Here emphasis shifted from the anecdotal story-telling genre to social, political, economic, cultural and religious history-writing. A new understanding of the nation state and the importance of identity and foreign relations in defining Iran's place in the modern world all served to transform the perspective of Iranian historiography. Touraj Atabaki here brings together a range of rich contributions from international scholars who cover the leading themes of the historiography of 20th-century Iran, including constitutional reform and revolution, literature and architecture, identity, women and gender, nationalism, modernism, Orientalism, Marxism and Islamism.

    

    While many recent works on cultural evolution adopt a specific theoretical framework, such as dual inheritance theory or human behavioral ecology, Pattern and Process in Cultural Evolution emphasizes empirical analysis and includes authors who employ a range of backgrounds and methods to address aspects of culture from an evolutionary perspective. Editor Stephen Shennan has assembled archaeologists, evolutionary theorists, and ethnographers, whose essays cover a broad range of time periods, localities, cultural groups, and artifacts.

    Written in Persian couplets in India in 1599 by a Zoroastrian priest, it is a work many know of, but few have actually read, let alone studied in depth. his book provides a romanised transcription from the oldest manuscripts, an elegant metrical translation, detailed commentary and, most importantly, a radical new theory of how such a text should be “read”, i.e. not as a historical chronical but as a charter of Zoroastrian identity, foundation myth and justification of the Parsi presence in India.