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Iran

Dictatorship and Development

Published by Oneworld Academic
Distributed by Simon & Schuster

About The Book

The classic, prescient study that anticipated the Iranian Revolution of 1979

It is quite possible that before too long the Iranian people will chase the Pahlavi dictator and his associates from power…

So wrote historian Fred Halliday in the conclusion to this prescient work on Iran in the twentieth century. Just months later the revolution of 1979 saw Shah Reza Pahlavi ousted and an Islamic theocracy established under Ayatollah Khomeini.

Following a contextual study of the origins of the Iranian state, Halliday focuses on the period from the early 1960s to 1978, when protests swept the nation for the first time in fifteen years. Through an interdisciplinary approach, he assesses the prevailing economic, social and political conditions, taking in the nation’s uneven capitalist development, opposition movements and state repression, and the alliance between the Shah and the United States. Even three decades on, this classic study – unique in its proximity to the revolution – offers many insights into why and how the Shah’s reign came to an end.

About The Author

Product Details

  • Publisher: Oneworld Academic (August 13, 2024)
  • Length: 416 pages
  • ISBN13: 9780861546770

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Raves and Reviews

‘Remarkable...almost miraculously timely...a carefully written, well-researched and deeply serious account of modern Iran.’

– Spectator

‘Well-timed and prophetic...thoroughly researched.’

– Telegraph

‘Much original analysis and relevant information not previously gathered together in any one book.’

– Tribune

‘One of the most important scholars of his generation.’

– Millennium: Journal of International Studies

‘Present[s] a rigorous and comprehensive analysis of Iranian society in the 1960s and 1970s… Halliday’s volume is a most welcome addition to the literature. Written on the very eve of the revolution in 1978 (except for an appended twelve-page “Afterword” dated March 1979), Iran: Dictatorship and Development is a significant contribution toward an understanding of the ancien régime and also provides some insights into the causes of the revolution.’

– Iranian Studies

‘Halliday provides us both with a framework for understanding [the revolution] in Iran, and an acute insight into the social forces in struggle. His array of sources is impressive, including not only secondary works but a wide and significant range of first-hand interviews and accounts.’

– Race & Class

‘Published almost simultaneously with the climax of [the Iranian Revolution]…the second edition includes the added bonus of an account of the rebellion and its aftermath. Halliday’s book not only fills a gap in the serious literature…but provides a valuable analysis of the nature of the Pahlavi state and the roots of its instability.’

– Third World Quarterly

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