Both revolutionary and reactionary the Islamic Republic of Iran has long been a conundrum for
Western observers. A theocracy that aspires to a popular mandate an anti-colonial state with
imperial pretensions of its own: modern Iran is in many ways a reflection of its struggle to
reconcile its traditions with the challenges of modernity. In this incisive book globally
renowned scholar of Iran Ali Ansari takes readers on a journey through the country's turbulent
history. Beginning with Iran's fall from grace as a Great Power in the late 19th century he
explores its repeated attempts to modernise in a series of revolutionary movements from the
Constitutional Revolution of 1906 to the Islamic Revolution of 1979 and the civil unrest that
is breaking out today. From staunch ally to implacable foe this book reveals how the
experience of history and Iran's encounter with 'modernity' have come to define it - and set it
on an authoritarian path in confrontation with the West and often its own people.
