The Persian Revolution of 1905-1909 [Paperback]

Edward G. Browne (Author), Abbas Amanat (editor) (Author), Abbas Amanat (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 14, 2006

"Many dangers and many anxious days lie before the new Persia." Almost a century later, Edward Browne's fears and hopes have a special resonance in the minds of contemporary readers. The Persian Revolution of 1905-1909, has maintained its relevance and freshness, even after the occurrence of a revolution more intense and all-embracing than the Constitutional Revolution. Furthermore, the aspirations of the Islamic Revolution of 1979 were a distant protest against the failure of that earlier revolution. Edward Browne was a professor of Persian studies at Cambridge University who had written A Year Amongst the Persians and the four-volume Literary History of Persia. What he primarily intended to achieve in The Persian Revolution was to demonstrate to his readers that the tumultuous events they were witnessing in Iran, often with suspicion if not disdain, were in fact no less than a genuine struggle by an oppressed and impoverished nation to establish a constitutional order despite the overwhelming odds of domestic tyranny, foreign intervention, and ideological divisions. He strove to serve as a voice in the West for the Persian Constitutionalists. The Persian Revolution was more than a simple record of a revolution, for it influenced the very course of events it covered in its pages. This new edition of the book first published in 1910 features an introduction by Abbas Amanat, a professor of History at Yale University, as well as a section featuring Browne's correspondences and contemporary reviews of the book. Also included are 56 period photographs. This is an essential volume for anyone attempting to understand Persia's past and present.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"There can be no doubt of the permanent value of this book..." -- New York Times, January 21, 1911

About the Author

As a Professor at Cambridge University, Edward Browne was considered the foremost scholar of Persian studies of his time. In addition to The Persian Revolution of 1905-1909, he wrote A Year Amongst the Persians, and A Literary History of Persia.

Product Details

• Paperback: 564 pages
• Publisher: Mage Publishers; 2nd edition (June 14, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1933823070
• ISBN-13: 978-1933823072
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.6 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,147,313 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Compulsory Reading for Students of Iran, September 24, 2000

By 

Roham Alvandi (Mosman, NSW Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Persian Revolution of 1905-1906 (Persia Observed Series) (Hardcover)

Edward G. Browne, the most famous British scholar of Iranian studies, for whom a street adjacent to Tehran University is named, has made an enormous contribution to Iranian studies in this and his other works. Professor Brown, whose other works span Iranian literature, culture, sociology and history, was a great friend to those who sought to advance the cause of liberalism and the rule of law in Iran.

This work is particularly valuable, as it is the only first-hand English language study of the Iranian Constitutional Revolution. It is particularly valuable for those readers unable to access works in Farsi, such as Ahmad Kasravi's seminal work on the Constitutional Revolution.

In this work, Brown vividly portrays the machinations of the British, Russian, and Iranian players in the constitutional revolution. One can sense the joy and agony in Browne's work as he describes the initial victory of the constitutionalists, and their eventual defeat at the hands of foreign agents and Iranian traitors.

Amanat's introduction is also valuable for the historical and biographical context it provides. Amanat, a scholar at Yale, has established his position as one the most prominent authors of Iranian history in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Those who enjoy this work, may care to also consider Shuster's work "The Strangling of Persia", also in the Persia observed series.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Accurate, clear and factual, June 28, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Persian Revolution of 1905-1906 (Persia Observed Series) (Hardcover)

This book attempts to reconstruct the events and upheavels during the persian constitutional revolution. The author shows an intimate knowledge of his subject, having spent time in Iran previously. Amanat does a magnificant job in introducing the unknown part of Iranian politics, with accurate observations and conclusions.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars In the name of Iran, February 12, 2007

By 

Peyman ADLDOUSTI (Persian Gulf) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Persian Revolution of 1905-1909 (Paperback)

The author of this book is Edward Granville Browne, who recorded his first account of Constitutional Revolution in Iran, plus he provided researched account on Constitutional Revolution in Iran. Interestingly, he discussed how UK and Russia divided Iran in two spheres and causing unrest in Iran. Thus, Iran did not have an opportunity to have political maturity.