<P>Since its 1979 revolution seized the world's attention, the Islamic Republic of Iran has remained a subject of misunderstanding, passion, and polemic. This book -- a study of Iran's political culture in the broadest and deepest sense -- examines the tremendous changes taking place in Iran today.</P><P>Most studies of contemporary Iran overemphasize the revolution's radical break with the past and ...

The 1979 revolution that replaced the last Pahlavi shah with an Islamic government headed by Ayatollah Khomeini brought sweeping changes, some of them unexpected. The Islamic Republic's first two decades were marked by frequent conflicts, both internal and external, and it continues to struggle to define itself. ...

Looks at the continuing political significance of religious rituals commemorating the Battle of Karbala in 680 CE. ...

Primary Sources Help Illustrate the Cultures and Achievements of Twelve World Cultures Like a passport to a foreign land, the Primary Sources of World Cultures series allows students to examine all aspects of a culture and its achievements from both a historical and modern-day perspective. Vividly illustrated with an abundance of primary source official documents, newspaper articles, period photographs, artifacts, engravings, paintings, maps, ...

Situated roughly midway between the great cities of the Indus Valley and those of the Mesopotamian plains, Tepe Yahya occupies a special place in our conceptions of relations between these distant territories during the early Bronze Age. Its third-millennium levels, dating from 3000 to 2100 B.C., are particularly important. In this definitive study, D.T. Potts describes the stratigraphy, architecture, ceramics, and chronology of the site and ...

This first modern account of the conflict between the eastern Roman Empire and the Sasanian kingdom traces the background of the war by investigating relations between Rome and Persia, the state of Roman defenses in the East, and the chaotic situation in Persia at the end of the 5th century.
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A forward thinking and notably popular leader, Karim Khan Zand (1705-1779) was the founder of the Zand dynasty in Iran. In this insightful profile of a man before his time, esteemed academic John Perry shows how by opening up international trade, employing a fair fiscal system and showing respect for existing religious institutions, Karim Khan succeeded in creating a peaceful and prosperous state in a particularly turbulent epoch of history. ...

For nearly 150 years, the secret society of the Assassins used subterfuge, intimidation, and even assassination to control the Middle East, from Syria to Persia. Carried out from a remote castle in northwest Iran, called the Alamut, this vast reign of terror was reaching its zenith in the early 12th century. But by 1256, the Assassins had disappeared without a trace and their strongholds became ruins. This is the account of the Alamut Valley ...

"I feel I am the wandering Jew who has no place to which she belongs. I thought I could settle down, but can't imagine staying. Whenever I bought a bar of soap and two came in the package, I thought there would be no need to buy a package of two because I would never last through the second. Why? Because I knew I was returning to Iran -- tomorrow. So too, I would buy the smallest size toothpastes and jars of oil. Putting down roots here is an ...

Volume 3 covers the period from the death of Alexander to the advent of Islam. ...