iran

"Examines this violent extremism, armed conflict, and unrest, studies the reasons why it has flared up, and looks at how people have tried to resolve these situations"-- Provided by publisher.

Suicide bombings, hostage executions, hundreds of thousands of U.S. military personnel on the Arabian Peninsula. How did the United States become tangled in the Byzantine politics and internecine warfare of the Middle East?.

Including the writings of: Azar Nafisi, Marjane Satrapi, Abbas Kiarostami, Shirin Neshat, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Gelareh Asayesh, Reza Aslan, Mehrangiz Kar, Roya Hakakian, Azadeh Moaveni, Naghmeh Zarbafian, Daryush Shayegan, Babak Ebrahimian, Negar Azimi and Salar Abdoh.

Raised in a sheltered world, Aria Minu-Sepehr was the son of a major general in the Shah of Iran's Imperial Iranian Air Force. When the Shah was overthrown and Ayatollah Khomeini rose to power in 1979, Aria's idyllic life skidded to a halt. Pictures of executed family friends covered the newspapers and ten-year-old Aria was thrust into the terrorized world of adults. His memoir takes his readers into the heart of the revolution.

Growing up in Iran, Nahid Rachlin and her beloved sister, Pari, decided to refuse traditional Muslim ways and dreamed of careers in literature and on the stage. Their lives changed abruptly when Pari was coerced by their father into marrying a wealthy and cruel husband. Nahid narrowly avoided a similar fate and negotiated with her father to pursue her studies in America, which she continued to live in after college and marriage. When she received the news that Pari had died after falling down a flight of stairs, Nahid traveled back to Iran, now under the Islamic regime, to find out what really happened and evaluate what the future holds for the heartbroken.

An introduction to the geography, history, government, lifestyles, culture, and current issues of Iran.