Iran
Books
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A History of Modern Iran Since 1921 by Ali Ansari (Longman, 2003)
Combining detailed historical narrative with comprehensive analysis and explanation, Ansari presents a new interpretation of the complex cultural polity that is modern Iran.
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In the Rose Garden of the Martyrs: A memoir of Iran by Christopher de Bellaigue (Harper Perrenial, 2005)
The author is married to an Iranian and has lived in Iran for many years. He gives us an insight into the hearts and minds of everyday Iranians - the voices and memories of traders, soldiers, film-makers, clerics, writers and taxi-drivers among others.
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Lipstick Jihad: A memoir of growing up Iranian in America and American in Iran by Azadeh Moaveni (Public Affairs, 2005)
The author writes of her experience as a young journalist who returns to Tehran. She paints a rare portrait of Iran's rebellious next generation. The landscape of her Tehran-ski slopes, fashion shows, malls and cafes, is populated by a cast of young people whose exuberance and despair brings the modern reality of Iran to vivid life.
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Reading Lolita in Tehran: A memoir in books by Azar Nafisi (Random House, 2003)
In 1995, after resigning from her job as a professor at a university in Tehran due to repressive policies, Azar Nafisi invited seven of her best female students to attend a weekly study of great Western literature in her home. Since the books they read were officially banned by the government, the women were forced to meet in secret, often sharing photocopied pages of the illegal novels.
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See No Evil by Robert Baer (Arrow, 2002)
Controversial memoir from one of the CIA's top field officers of the past quarter century. Baer recounts his career as a ground soldier in the CIA's war on terrorism, running agents in the back alleys of the Middle East, with blistering honesty. This book was the inspiration behind the film Syriana where George Clooney plays a soon to be abandoned CIA agent operating in Iran with the help of Iranian dissidents.
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Shirin Neshat edited by Rose Lee Goldberg and Georgio Verzotti (Charta, 2002)
Born in Iran and currently living in the US, the conflict between two very different cultural universes has become the nucleus of Shirin Neshat's work. This book documents all of her activity, including her first black and white photographic work in which she gave voices to Iranian women by tracing onto their faces, hands, and naked feet the verses of ancient Persian poets.
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Tehran Blues: Youth culture in Iran by Kaveh Basmenji (Saqi Books, 2005)
More than two decades after their parents rose up against the excesses of the Shah, increasing numbers of young Iranians are risking gaol for things their counterparts in the West take for granted: wearing makeup or holding hands with members of the opposite sex. Basmenji interviews members of one of the world's youngest-populated countries and tries to get to the heart of the matter: what do Iran's youth want, and how far are their elders prepared to accommodate them?
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