Abbas Amanat (B.A., Tehran University, 1971; D. Phil., University of Oxford, 1981) has taught and written about early modern and modern history of Iran, Muslim world, the Middle East and the Persianate world for more than three decades. His principal book publications include Iran: A Modern History (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2017); Az Tehran ta ‘Akka: Babiyan va Baha’iyan dar Asnad-e Dowran-e Qajar (From Tehran to ‘Akka: Babis and Baha’is in the Official Records of Qajar Iran, Copenhagen and New Haven: Ashkaar Publishers, 2016); Apocalyptic Islam and Iranian Shi’ism (London and New York: I B Tauris, 2009); Pivot of the Universe: Nasir al-Din Shah Qajar and the Iranian Monarchy, 1831-1896 (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1997, paperback: London and New York: I B Tauris, 2008; Persian translation: Qebleh-e ‘Alam [Tehran: Nashr-e Karnameh, 2004]); Resurrection and Renewal: the Making of the Babi Movement in Iran, 1844-1850 (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1989; second ed. Los Angeles: Kalimat Press, 2005).
Iran: A Modern History
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.
