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Modern Iran since 1797 offers a comprehensive analysis of political, social and economic developments in Iran since the beginning of the nineteenth century. Spanning two centuries, the book provides historical context for recent developments in and the complex nature of Iran's international relationships and its internal struggle to reconcile itself and its traditions with the modern world. This edition has been extended to stretch from 1797 up until the present day. Written in a clear, engaging style and highlighting Iran as a state and society grappling with the realities of the modern age, this remains the perfect guide for all those studying the history of modern Iran

Intro -- Contents -- Acknowledgements to the Third Edition -- Preface to the Third Edition -- Part I - Iran, Islam and Democracy: The Politics of Managing Change -- Introduction -- Structure of the book -- Sources -- 1. Iran, Islam and Democracy: The Theoretical Context -- Iran, Islam and the 'secularisation thesis' -- Civil society and democratic development -- 2. The Politics of Managing Change -- A contested inheritance -- The roots of democratic development -- The constitutional period, 1906-1921 -- Reza Shah and the Pahlavi autocracy -- The interregnum, 1941-1953 -- The restoration of autocracy, 1953-1979 -- 3. Revolution, Republic and War -- The dialectics of the 'collective will' -- The limits of 'charisma' -- Competing movements -- Religious nationalism -- An unorthodox legacy -- The ideological dimensions of power -- Causes of authoritarian domination -- The war -- 4. Rafsanjani and the Ascendancy of the Mercantile Bourgeoisie -- The roots and development of the 'mercantile bourgeois republic' -- Developments in intellectual life -- The intellectual revitalisation of the myth of political emancipation -- The theoretical foundations of an Islamic democracy -- Social responses to the bourgeois republic -- 5. The Failure of the Mercantile Bourgeois Republic and the Election of Khatami -- Parties and personalities -- The election campaign -- The election of 2 Khordad -- 6. Contested Hegemonies and the Institutionalisation of Power -- The reformist worldview -- Policies -- Agents of change (1): students -- Agents of change (2): the press -- Agents of obstruction -- A new beginning -- The foreign policy of reintegration -- 7. The Dialectics of Reform -- The politics of managing change -- The parameters of 'civil society' -- Constitutionalism and historical appropriation -- Reform and reaction -- The politics of economic reform.

Myth, history and narrative displacement in Iranian historiography / Ali M. Ansari -- History, national identity and myths in Iranian contemporary political thought : Mirza Fathali Akhundzadeh (1812-78), Mirza Aqa Khan Kermani (1853-96) and Hassan Taqizadeh (1878-1970) / Pejman Abdolmohammadi -- Ancient Iran in the imagination of the medieval West / Robert Bartlett -- History and chronology in early modern Iran : the Safavid Empire in comparative perspective / Stephen P. Blake -- Historiography in late antique Iran / Touraj Daryaee -- Reverse Orientalism : Iranian reactions to the West / Farhang Jahanpour -- Herodotus' Cyrus and political freedom / Lynette Mitchell -- Iran and the Aryan myth / David Motadel -- History and its meaning in the Islamic Republic of Iran : the case of the Mongol invasion(s) and rule / Anja Pistor-Hatam -- Safavid Persia through Italian eyes : from reign of freedom to land of oppression / Elisa Sabadini -- History and Iranian drama : the case of Bahram Beyzaie / Saeed Talajooy

"Iran has rarely been out of the headlines, yet media interest and extensive coverage rarely translates into more than a superficial understanding of Iran, its identity, and its people. In this Very Short Introduction, Ali M. Ansari takes a new look at Iranian history and politics, placing the Islamic Revolution in the context of a century of political change and social transformation. Ansari argues that conflict and confrontation are not inevitable, and that a better appreciation of the history and culture of Iran, and the complex identity of Iranians themselves, can provide a new and realistic understanding for future generations."--Page 2 of cover

"Distinguished historian Ali M. Ansari explores ideas about nationalism and how they apply to twentieth-century Iran"--

The first full-length study of Iranian nationalism in nearly five decades, this sophisticated and challenging book by the distinguished historian Ali M. Ansari explores the idea of nationalism in the creation of modern Iran. It does so by considering the broader developments in national ideologies that took place following the emergence of the European Enlightenment and showing how these ideas were adopted by a non-European state. Ansari charts a course through twentieth-century Iran, analysing the growth of nationalistic ideas and their impact on the state and demonstrating the connections between historiographical and political developments. In so doing, he shows how Iran's different regimes manipulated ideologies of nationalism and collective historical memory to suit their own ends. Drawing on hitherto untapped sources, the book concludes that it was the revolutionary developments and changes that occurred during the first half of the twentieth century that paved the way for later radicalisation