#Iran#, ancient name Persia, may be reminiscent of the Little Showa and the squinting Persian cat in "The Book of the Dragon Slayer", but Persia was once known as the Persian Empire, and the dynasty that can be called an empire is actually rare in the long history of the world. Today's Iran, in the modern stage is also very full of drama, the Iran-Iraq war, the contradictions between the United States and Iran, the Iranian nuclear agreement, etc., all affect the nerves of the entire international community. Iran, it seems, has always been an outlier in the Arab region, but Iran is adjacent to Pakistan, in fact, it is not far from the mainland. To understand Iran, you can start with this "Five Hundred Years of Iran", written by history professor Abbas Amatner, and the gaps in Iran's history can be filled through this book.
Most non-professionals have almost zero understanding of Iranian history, "Five Hundred Years of Iran" from 1501 to the end of the 20th century, five hundred years, 1000 pages, may not be able to cover all the content, but through the major events in history, the evolution of culture and religion, changes in the ruling system, etc., it is possible to have a comprehensive understanding of Iran, and can also be seen from religion, geography, oil, war, revolution, what is affecting the fate of Iran?
The countries of the Middle East are almost the epitome of oil enrichment, and Iran is also not short of oil, and in 1908, Iran first extracted oil, which was also continuously transported to the scene of World War I. During the Cold War, the United States regarded Iran as an important ally to balance the Soviet Union, and in 1979, the Islamic Revolution that shocked the world put Iran on the opposite side of the United States and continues to this day, followed by the well-known Iran-Iraq War and the Iranian nuclear agreement, including this year's Russian-Ukrainian conflict. Unlike other Middle Eastern countries that make money silently from oil, the first reaction when Iran is mentioned will not be oil.
Further ahead, Iran is also the stage of various historical dramas such as constant war, division and unification, and the rise of empires. The term "Iran" is derived from the Iranian word "Aryanum", which refers to the land of the Aryans, which also highlights the narrative mode of Iranian history: violent resistance, religious contradictions, norms between different genders and social classes, cultural prosperity and mobility, the struggle and reshaping of historical memory, and Iran is one of the very few cultural circles that have not been swallowed up by the strong Arabic language, and Iranians have not completely abandoned the cultural memory of the pre-Islamic period, it can be said that Iran is a relatively pure inheritance of Islam. Although it has experienced civil wars, revolutions, domination, and the replacement of the ruling class, Iran's religious culture has been continued to this day, and now it also deeply affects the customs of the whole country, which is a rare theocratic country.
From Persia to Iran, located in the Middle East at the junction of Eurasia and Continental, is an ancient civilization with a history of four or five thousand years, "Five Hundred Years of Iran" takes readers to the history of Iran, iran before the 15th century also has many stories, and now the story of Iran is still continuing, understanding history, can help to understand the present.