(Part 2) Top products from r/iran

> homosexuality was considered so offensive and obscene

lol, you are imposing your own expectations for an Islamic culture on a very different time period, but yes, it is fair to say that unless Hafez stated bluntly his interest in fucking young boys then it is still mere speculation that he did...his contemporaries did though, and they wrote about it, like Obayd-e Zakani. This is not to besmirch them or make light of pedophilia using blunt straightforward language, just being clear

you may find this book interesting:
http://www.amazon.com/Faces-Love-Shiraz-Penguin-Classics/dp/0143107283/

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0190468963/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1524525453&sr=8-2&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=iran+revolution&dpPl=1&dpID=519AJju20sL&ref=plSrch

If you only want to specifically want to learn something more about the revolution itself, I'd recommend you this book. This is the only book I read in english and it was pretty good. (Personal opinion)

About the years before the revolution (like mossadegh and rezah pahlavi) I didn't find anything relevant because I don't have read any books about that topic in english. (But there are some good movies and documentaries too about that time.)

Click on his other book called Great Britain and Reza Shah, The Great Plunder it takes you to amazon site selling the book and an outline of the book:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0813021111/ref=cm_cr_asin_lnk

The books already mentioned are good.

If you want to read from the brutal honest perspective of someone in the inner circle of the Shah, explaining all the blunders, mistakes and foolish things that brought the country so much pain and took the old regime down, take a look at Blood and Oil by Manucher Farmanfarmaian. It is a

http://www.amazon.com/Blood-Oil-Inside-Library-Paperbacks/dp/0375753087

> Prince Manucher Farmanfarmaian was born in 1917 as a Prince of Persia's reigning Qajar Dynasty. He was raised in a world of Oriental luxury in his father's harem. After obtaining a "proper" education in England, he returned to his homeland, which had changed forever. The Qajar Dynasty had been overthrown and replaced by a Military Officer named Reza Pahlavi, a man determined to "modernise" Iran. As the new Pahlavi Dynasty worked to break the power of the Persian Nobility, they would lead to the creation of a nation of hedonistic aristocrats, not only divorced from the common people but increasingly from reality in general. Writing these memoirs with the aid of his daughter Roxanne, Prince Farmanfarmaian delves deep into the splendor of the Pahlavi Dynasty, while at the same time revealing the very blunders which brought them down. From the profiteering of Reza Shah the Great, to the disastrous socialism of Mossadegh, to the havoc that the last Shah's "land reform" wreaked on the economy, the reader will deeply enjoy being swept away into a nation's tortured history. When the Mullahs finally seize controll and the Prince is forced to follow the Shah into exile, the reader will be on the edge of their seat wondering if he will finally escape. Prince Manucher and Princess Roxanne are to be applauded for taking up the challenge of the glory that was the Pahlavis, without at all ignoring their warts and pimples.

I highly recommend Shahriar Mandanipour, especially Censoring an Iranian Love Story

I would like to suggest reading The Ayatollah Begs to Differ by Hooman Majd. I got a lot of good ideas of places to see from that book.

https://www.amazon.com/Poison-King-Legend-Mithradates-Deadliest/dp/0691150265

https://www.amazon.com/Two-Eyes-Earth-Kingship-Sasanian/dp/0520257278

And Rawlinsons 'The Seven Great Monarchies'

http://heritageinstitute.com/zoroastrianism/rawlinson/index.htm

The Irish section is rubbish. Tim Pat Coogan is not an academic or historian, he's a journalist and specialises in the kind of books pandering to plastic paddy's in Boston. As a journalist he has very close ties to the IRA and other paramilitaries which I imagine gives him a spot of visa trouble. He pulled strings and got one - not an avenue open to the many ordinary Irish who get turned down.

There are many highly regarded comprehensive studies of the Irish famine and I would recommend Atlas of the Great Irish Famine. http://www.amazon.com/Atlas-Great-Irish-Famine-Crowley/dp/0814771483
Perhaps the same kind of academic rigour can be brought as to what happened in Iran. Because losing half the population in a horrendous famine within living memory of great grandparents does not vanish to become a TIL on reddit.

I'd recommend 'The Persians' by Homa Katouzian. It's comprehensive, scholarly and readable.

Thank you for the recommendation! Is it this: http://www.amazon.com/Colloquial-Persian-Abdorreza-Rafiee/dp/0415157498/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1454111971&sr=8-1&keywords=colloquial+persian

Or this:
http://www.amazon.com/Colloquial-Persian-Abdi-Rafiee/dp/0415560454/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1454111971&sr=8-2&keywords=colloquial+persian

A historian recommended me these for the Sassanian Empire:

Sassanian Iran

Fall of the Sassanian empire - Expensive on amazon, here's the entire book online for free.

This just came out and has been highly recommended by many. Haven't read myself but it's on my list.

Iran: A Modern History

Iran was one of the first nations to recognize Israel--which it should not have because, aside from obvious reasons of basic human decency, Israel's declaration of "independence" was against the UN rulings regarding the Mandate of Palestine and Iran was one of the founding nations of the UN. Way to piss on international rule of law.

Iran famously provided Israel with oil while Arabs had embargoed it. It made the same appalling decision of selling to South Africa while the whole world had embargoed its apartheid state.

Regarding alleged Israeli sales of arms to Iran, Israel was merely a temporary laundering house for Oliver North's Iran arms sales operation. Reagan was entirely aware of and endorsed this. Declassified documents and the in-depth book recently published on the Iran-Contra affair corroborate this.

History 101.

It's way past time for certain people who are stuck in time and are still in love with the Pahlavi myths--which Israel majorly contributed to--to wake up and smell the coffee. Israel's current mode of existence is colonialist to the core and it's an affront to any nation like Iran that has been harmed by colonialist practices.

Historically, Ubayd Zakani, Iraj Mirza, and Dakhu were household names. From the contemporaries check out Iraj Pezeshkzad, Ebrahim Nabavi, Gol-Agha, Rambod Javan, and Hadi Khorsandi.



Edit: Links

Modern Iran: Roots and Results of Revolution, Updated Edition Updated Edition

by Nikki R. Keddie

http://www.amazon.com/Modern-Iran-Results-Revolution-Updated/dp/0300121059

" Non-Zionist, Non-Israeli person" aka any Holocaust historian who ever was in Israel or born in Israel or lives in Israel. Your conference had David Duke..a KKK member...enough said. You can try and legitimize all you want, but it only shows your true face. And you wonder why people think of your country in a negative light? you don't need to defend the indefensible..or perhaps you do because you could be jailed in Iran for not toeing the line? amirite?

Here are some intro books for you noobies: http://www.amazon.com/Holocaust-Philosophical-Implications-John-Roth/dp/1557782121

http://www.amazon.com/Holocaust-Reader-Responses-Nazi-Extermination/dp/0195059581/ref=pd_sim_b_8?ie=UTF8&refRID=1CZJZGRSWRGT2V8Q2DS8