The Iranians: Persia, Islam and the Soul of a Nation [Hardcover]

Sandra Mackey (Author), Scott Harrop (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 1996

The author of The Saudis provides a definitive portrait of the troubled nation of Iran and the complex religious, historical, political, and cultural forces--especially the dichotomy between Islam and the culture of ancient Persia--that continue to shape it.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The Iranians chronicles the history of the Iranian people, from the "glory days" of Persia to the overthrow of Mohammed Riza Shah and the rise of the Ayatollah Khomeini. Through many centuries, Islamic Iran fell repeatedly to invaders--Turks, Mongols, Afghans, Russians, and the British--only to spring back and reassert its cultural and spiritual autonomy while absorbing elements of other civilizations. But after the 1950s, rapid modernization disturbed every facet of Iranian life. Mackey shows how Iran's pendulum swung from nationalism to monarchism to rigid Shia fundamentalism, while also offering harsh judgment of Western attitudes and policies toward Iran.

From Publishers Weekly

In an engrossing blend of history and reportage, Middle East expert Mackey (The Saudis) portrays a proud, anxious people caught between two interlocking traditions competing for the nation's soul. On the one hand, there is the legacy of ancient Persia, which brought forth Zoroastrianism with its belief in a supreme God, a philosophy of tolerance and justice, and magnificent art; and on the other, there is the predominant Shiite Muslim religion, which mirrors Persian nonconformity in its schismatic break with Sunni orthodoxy, but which also galvanizes the masses with calls for an egalitarian society, retribution against the West and strict adherence to Islamic moral code. Shah Muhammad Reza Pahlavi, in her analysis, abandoned Islamic traditions and, wrapping himself in the cloak of kingship, pushed a shallow resurrection of the glories of ancient Persia. His fall in 1979 left the U.S. adrift in the crucial Persian Gulf; and contemporary Iran, with its ongoing military buildup, its opposition to the Israel-Arab peace process and its refusal to lift the death edict for Salman Rushdie, reinforces deep-rooted authoritarian traditions. Nevertheless, Mackey strongly urges the U.S. to replace its policy of isolation and embargo with reconciliation toward President Hashemi Rafsanjani and the moderate pragmatists he supposedly represents.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 448 pages
• Publisher: Dutton Adult; First Edition edition (May 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0525940057
• ISBN-13: 978-0525940050
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (44 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,610,955 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Important Factual Errors Make this Book Less Credible, December 13, 2000

By 

"pazarmehr" (London, London United Kingdom) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Iranians: Persia, Islam and the Soul of a Nation (Paperback)

I started reading this book with an enormous amount of pleasure. At first I thought my God, this American woman has understood us Iranians better than we have understood ourselves. The chapter on Reza Shah I thought was spot on. Then there were a few minor mistakes, e.g. Mohammad Reza Shah dreaming Abbas Shah, should have been Hazrat Abbas, who is an entirely different character(pp254). This was not too important though and I think we can forgive a foreigner for that. As the history approached the 1979 uprisng, Khomeini's nationalism or his exploit of nationalism was mentioned too often. The book then describes his arrival and says(pp285) - 'As soon the aged Khomeini rose from his poignant act of kissing the Iranian soil...'! I can not remember him doing that but I think most Iranians would remember that he was asked on the plane by a journalist on how he feels returning back to his country after 15 years and he replied without any emotion 'Nothing' !. An important statement which is not mentioned in the book.

Other examples I can give is how Sandra Mackey in her footnote on pp(286) says 'Shapur Bakhtiar was assassinated in Paris by unknown assailants...'. At this point I had to shelf the book. Perhaps she should have visited Vakili-rad and Hendi in the French jails, before France let Hendi go back to Iran, half way through his sentence in return for a petti contract.

If I was to recommend the book, I would say read the first 200 pages or so, after that be careful of what information you are given.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Detailed and interesting, but at times Romanticizes culture, May 3, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Iranians: Persia, Islam and the Soul of a Nation (Hardcover)

Mackey has written an excellent book in terms of historical facts and detailed accounts of Iran's past. However, her analysis and commentary on Iranian identity leaves much to be desired. She attempts to provide a modern perspective of Iran through discussing its long past, yet it seems to me that Mackey seems bent on forming an all-inclusive idea of what being "Iranian" is. That simply is not possible. Given the long history, incredible diversity, and complexity of the subject (which the author notes), the only way that one could present formula of "Iranianism" is by making many generalizations, which abound in this book. How else could one fit some 2500 years of history into 400 or so pages? All in all, it is a great introduction to Iran and a well-written, engaging book. My advice to readers: take Mackey's conclusions about why Iranians are the way they are with a grain of salt; this is not an academic book but rather, popular reading.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars FACTUAL ERRORS, FICTITIOUS ASSERTIONS, July 6, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Iranians: Persia, Islam and the Soul of a Nation (Paperback)

This is a strange book. In its first part it offers a fast reading of the long history of Iranian peoples ( yes, in plural because the Iranian family is broader than is normally assumed), often based on already existing books. In the second part the writer poses as philosopher, ethnologist, sociologist, psychologist and literary critic and, above all, historian. She divided Iran's contemporary history into three neat categories: nationalism, monarchism and Islamism. The book is marred by factual errors that more dilligent editing would have detected and corrected. What is more serious, however, is the fictitious assertions the author makes. For example, she presents the late Ayatollah Khomeini as an Iranian nationalist who supposedly kissed the Persian soil on his return from exile. Such a move would have been anathema to Khmeini who regardsed nationalism as a form of idolatry. In fact, Khomeini banned the word " mellat" ( nation in Persian) and replaced it with " umma", an Arabic word which dentoes the religious community. Khomeini was a pan-Islamist who rejected the Western notion of nationalism. This is why he abolished the Iranian national emblem of lion and sun which symbolised a synthesis of ancient Iran ( represented by the sun) and Shiite Muslim Iran represented by the lion which recalls Imam Ali Ibn Abi-Taleb. In other words Khomeini wanted to go even beyond Shiism in order to promote himslef as leader of a pan-Islamist movement. When it comes to an analysis of political events in the past 50 years or so,The author repeats the cliches that have been in circulation for decades. A serious history of the Iranian peoples remains to be written. And when it is Ms MacKay's book would be useful in telling the historian what not to do. AN UNHAPPY READER