Iran's nuclear ambitions have thrust the country into the international spotlight, attracting media attention to a degree not seen since the late 1970s. Iran's population of 70 million people - a majority of it young and radicalised - sits atop one of the largest reserves of oil on the planet. A balanced understanding of this nation is vital to make sense of events unravelling in the region and this brilliant and lucid narrative, a full political and cultural history of Iran, fills a crucial gap in our knowledge.

Author Biography

Hamid Dabashi is the Hagop Kevorkian Professor of Iranian Studies and Comparative Literature at Columbia University in New York. He is the author of highly acclaimed scholarly books and articles on Iran, medieval and modern Islam, comparative literature, world cinema, and philosophy of arts. Among the leading U.S. dissidents and a frequent lecturer around the globe, he lives in New York.