It is easy to forget, given the oppositional dynamic between Iran and the United States of the last 50 years, that these two countries once shared productive partnership. Tracing US-Iran relations over two turbulent centuries, Firoozeh Kashani-Sabet considers when and how this relationship went awry. With careful attention to social and cultural as well as diplomatic developments, Kashani-Sabet shows that the rift did not originate in flashpoints of crisis, like the 1953 coup or the 1979 Islamic Revolution, but was instead long in the making. Drawing from a wealth of English and Persian-language sources, many of which were previously unavailable or unacknowledged, this book considers the relationship from the vantage point of Iranian society and the experiences of an evolving Iran that strived to accommodate American and great power politics. Following these two nations through wars, decolonization, and revolution, Kashani-Sabet presents an invaluable history of a diplomatic rivalry that informs geopolitics to this day.

‘Professor Firoozeh Kashani-Sabet analyses and historicises the broken bridges within the US-Iranian relationship. She weaves a story that is both personal and political, rich in detail and insight that is placed within a broader Middle Eastern scope. The book challenges stereotypes of Iran and Islam, moves away from simplistic explanations for the present, and holds governments and leaders on both sides accountable. She restores humanity in history and seeks common ground from which some mutual understanding can emerge.’

Rowena Abdul Razak - London School of Economics

‘A fascinating account of a vital relationship. Kashani-Sabet’s penetrating and balanced analysis of the US-Iran relationship over the last two centuries illuminates and contextualises a relationship which is far more complex, nuanced and interesting than the current political mythology would have us believe.’

Ali Ansari - University of St Andrews

‘Based on meticulous research, this book is a panoramic, authoritative, and richly detailed account of the U.S.-Iran relationship over the past two centuries. It pays careful attention to the changing cultural, societal, and political conditions that shaped each side’s narratives of its own, and the other’s, stance and interests at every stage in the course of this fraught relationship.’

Ali Banuazizi - Boston College

‘This is a brilliant account of a surprisingly neglected topic: the history of Iran’s long and troubled relationship with the USA. A work of original and scrupulous scholarship, it will certainly become a classic in the field while its elegant writing style makes it accessible to the general reader as well as the specialist.’

Stephanie Cronin - University of Oxford

‘This is a fascinating, deeply-researched cultural history of American-Iranian relations. Based on an impressive range of sources, Firoozeh Kashani-Sabet skillfully traces cultural encounters and mutual perceptions and provides a profound insight into the last two hundred years of Iran’s history.’

Bianca Devos - Philipps University Marburg

‘The roots of U.S.-Iranian relations go back further than the hostage crisis of 1979–1981. They go back farther than the U.S.-led coup of 1953. Professor Kashani-Sabet, an eminent historian of Iran, traces U.S.-Iranian relations - governmental and non-governmental - back to the nineteenth century, including longstanding cultural exchanges that offer a path beyond current hostilities.’

Charles Kurzman - University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

‘The Iranian revolution of 1979 with its iconic anti-American slogans and the subsequent hostage crisis inaugurated a period of hostility between Iran and the US that has occluded a history of engagement and cooperation between the two nations dating back to the nineteenth Century. This book is an invaluable reminder of that rich history.’

Nasrin Rahimieh - University of California, Irvine

‘This book brings Iran to the centre stage of world politics, explaining how Western economic and military power was built on a predatory relation to Iran’s national body, geography, and resources, and how, in spite of it, Iran protected its independent agency. An authentic global history of Iran-US relations.’

Paola Rivetti - Dublin City University

‘An excellent work.’

John Limbert Source: Asian Affairs

‘[A] welcome addition to the literature: it offers a deeply researched and dispassionate account of this thorny relationship.’

Ray Takeyh Source: Survival