Tales of Two Cities: A Persian Memoir [Paperback]

Abbas Milani (Author)

Book Description

Series: Bookshelves & Cabinets | Publication Date: June 1, 2006

Raised in Iran, Abbas Milani was sent to be educated in California in the 1960s. He became politically active and in 1974 received a PhD in Political Science. He returned to Tehran and taught at the National University but was imprisoned by the Pahlavi regime in 1977. After the revolution he became a professor at Tehran University, but by 1986 his utopian illusions had been shattered and he emigrated to the United States. Dr. Milani is the Hamid and Christina Moghadam Director of Iranian studies at Stanford University and co-director of the Iran Democracy Project at the Hoover Institution. Abbas Milani is also the author of the bestselling The Persian Sphinx: Amir Abbas Hoveyda and the Riddle of the Iranian Revolution, as well as the prize-winning Lost Wisdom: Rethinking Modernity in Iran.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Milani, an expatriate Iranian professor, has written an interesting memoir. The son of a prosperous family, Milani was sent overseas to be educated. He lived in Oakland, California, in the 1960s, where he listened to political sermons by Bobby Seale, participated in anti-Shah demonstrations, and studied Maoism. Returning to Iran in the 1970s, he taught at the National University until his anti-Shah activities led to his imprisonment. While in prison, he discovered that prisoners segregated themselves by ideology, the imprisoned religious opponents of the regime wanting no interaction with the imprisoned secular opponents-an ominous taste of what would come after the Islamic revolution. Freed before the revolution, Milani returned to teaching until the pressures exerted on freedom of thought by the Shi'ite clerics' regime became intolerable, and Milani fled Iran. A great deal of information about Iran is contained in this volume, from the Shi'ite clerics' obsession with hierarchy to Iranians' favorite conspiracy theories explaining the forces behind Iran's Islamic revolution. Recommended for public and academic libraries.
Robert J. Andrews, Duluth P.L., Minn.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"A consistently dramatic and moving memoir." -- San Francisco Chronicle

"An exceptional, emotionally blooded memoir. . . . a breathtaking example of the quiet, selfless gorgeousness of the memoristÂ’s art. --Kirkus Reviews

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Product Details

• Paperback: 264 pages
• Publisher: Mage Publishers (June 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1933823046
• ISBN-13: 978-1933823041
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,572,436 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A moving memoir by a brilliant mind, May 9, 2010

By 

John Wythe White (Haleiwa, HI United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tales of Two Cities: A Persian Memoir (Paperback)

I have had the pleasure and the enlightening experience of traveling with Abbas Milani on a Stanford University travel/study tour to Morocco. His lectures on Islam were concise and highly informative. Back home, I purchased his memoir about life in Iran and Berkeley, California. It's short, sweet and paints a vivid picture of growing up in a rapidly-changing Tehran during the later years of the Shah and the early years of the revolution. In Tehran Dr. Milani spent a year in prison for his pro-democratic views, and in Berkeley he was a student activist. His reflections on these experiences make for great reading. If you enjoy this book, please check out his many other writings in magazines and newspapers, which are equally insightful and easily accessible on the Internet, as well as his soon-to-be-published book about the reign of Shah of Iran.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A book that I adored., February 3, 2010

By 

Andrew Desani "Chakhmi" (Northern California.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tales of Two Cities: A Persian Memoir (Paperback)

Much of what I wanted to say was already told on all above reviews. I would like to add that this is the book that I actually finished reading, as I had tried so many others on the subject of "new Iran" and was hard to connect with. This is a memoir that is hard not to like it and after reading few pages I was already living on the days and years that the author was painting.
Thanks professor Milani for such an excellent recount of Irans turmoils on 70-90's.