America And Iran: A History, 1720 To The Present,New

A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR A hugely ambitious, delightfully readable, genuinely informative portrait (The New York Times) of the twocenturieslong entwined histories of Iran and Americatwo powers who were once allies and now adversariesby an admired historian and former journalist.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 centurythe subject of great admiration by Thomas Jefferson and John Quincy Adamsand 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 Iranincluding access to Iranian government archives rarely available to Western scholarsthe Iranianborn, Oxfordeducated 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 enemiesand why it didnt have to turn out this way.