TEHRAN (IBNA) -- An
informative book, ‘America and Iran: A History, 1720 to the Present’ (2021) ‎by Iranian-American scholar John Ghazvinian which delightfully describes two-‎centuries-long entwined histories has been translated into Persian and published.‎
A New York Times Notable Book of the Year, the work which describes the relations between two powers who were once allies and now adversaries. ‘America and Iran: A History, 1720 to the Present’ has been translated into Persian by Mohsen Askari and released by Tehran-based Nimaj Publishing in 912 pages.
Kirkus comments on this book: “An expert on Iran delineates the massive rift between the erstwhile ‘closest of allies’ ... relevant, highly elucidating ... an evenhanded, revelatory narrative in which the author avoids muddying the waters with an overtly political agenda.”
In this rich, fascinating history, John Ghazvinian traces the complex story of the relations between these two nations back to the Persian Empire of the eighteenth century—the subject of great admiration by Thomas Jefferson and John Quincy Adams—and an America seen by Iranians as an ideal to emulate for their own government.
Drawing on years of archival research both in the United States and Iran—including access to Iranian government archives rarely available to Western scholars—the Iranian-born, Oxford-educated historian leads us through the four seasons of U.S.–Iran relations: the spring of mutual fascination; the summer of early interactions; the autumn of close strategic ties; and the long, dark winter of mutual hatred.
Ghazvinian makes clear where, how, and when it all went wrong. ‘America and Iran’ shows why two countries that once had such heartfelt admiration for each other became such committed enemies—and why it didn’t have to turn out this way.
John Ghazvinian was born in Iran and raised in London and Los Angeles. He has a doctorate in history from Oxford University and was the recipient of a “Public Scholar” fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities in 2016-2017, as well as a fellowship from the Carnegie Corporation’s special initiative on Islam in 2009-2010.
Ghazvinian’s writing has appeared in Newsweek, The Sunday Times, New Statesman, Slate, and The Nation. He directs the Middle East Center at the University of Pennsylvania and lives in Philadelphia.