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America and Iran

A History, 1720 to the Present

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America and Iran

By: John Ghazvinian
Narrated by: Jeff Harding
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About this listen

In this rich, fascinating history, John Ghazvinian traces the complex story of the relations of these two powers back to the Persian Empire of the 18th century - the subject of great admiration of 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 US 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 US-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, with grasp and a storyteller's ability, makes clear where, how and when it all went wrong - and he shows why two countries that once had such heartfelt admiration for each other became such committed enemies, showing us, as well, how it didn't have to turn out this way.

©2020 John Ghazvinian (P)2020 W. F. Howes Americas Middle East Politics & Government World Iran Military War Imperialism Russia Soviet Union Africa American Foreign Policy Socialism Middle Ages Ancient History Royalty Self-Determination

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I really enjoyed this book. It was so good to hear a real and nuanced analysis of the relationship between the USA and Iran over time, and the forces which have created and seek to perpetuate the current disfunction.

A fascinating book

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This book provided a huge amount of information which I had not known before. So much so that it has changed my perspectives on certain issues, particularly the ongoing Israel/Palestine conflict.

I found it to be very balanced, and conveyed the thinking in various camps of different eras to paint a vivid picture of what happened and why we are where we are today.

Balanced, enjoyable and informative

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John writes ambitiously and unreservedly and he has a great grip of Iran-US relations. If you want to have a glimpse into that relationship, this is a great book and does not disappoint.

My only concern lies with John’s impartiality and whether he has been able to maintain it throughout. Although his criticism toward the hardliners of the Iranian regime and the traditional “war-mongering hawks of DC” was evident, I felt he put too much emphasis on certain parts of history while ignoring others (did he do this intentionally?)

For example, His lengthy chapter on Mossadeq and the 1953 coup would make an unfamiliar reader think that all of Iran’s problems were caused by the coup and that all would have ended well had the US + U.K. not orchestrated it.

Or another example: After the Revolution, John was also very eager to portray the Rafsanjani administration as the “gate opener to the world” and giving an impression of him as the “lesser of the evils”, ignoring that Rafsanjani was responsible for some of the most cruel chain murders in Iran. But The human rights record of the IRI was never a central component of the book anyway.

I would’ve appreciated a bit more stern stance on Iran, and certainly the conclusion I felt was too forcibly optimistic. For as long as there are hard liners in place, making a career out of this enmity with Iran, there will be no peace (similarly certain lobbyists in the US). In every chaos lies opportunity, and sometimes you create the chaos yourself to foster opportunities. And that’s where Iran is currently at. But here’s hoping for better days...

Overall 4/5, great work.

Ambitious book with great insight

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After finishing this book, and it is brilliantly written so well worth the time, you might be forgiven for thinking that the IRGC were a bunch of good old boys led by a charming old fella in a dark room in his cottage in the country. I was surprised by how little time was dedicated to the IRGC and what really occurred internally following the revolution but that might have been due to needing to dedicate so very much time and word space at the end to the author's distaste on all matters relating to Isreal.
I was left disappointed by the lack of balance in the last quarter of the book as the argument for Iran, until then, had been so beautifully expressed that I kept repeating out loud, 'damn, they just couldn't catch a break'.

Clever, concise but not balaned

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