Understanding Iran cover art

Understanding Iran

Everything You Need to Know, From Persia to the Islamic Republic, From Cyrus to Khamenei

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Understanding Iran

By: William R. Polk
Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
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About this listen

William R. Polk provides an informative, history of a country which is moving quickly toward becoming the dominant power and culture of the Middle East.

A former member of the State Department's Policy Planning Council, Polk describes a country and a history misunderstood by many in the West. While Iranians chafe under the yolk of their current leaders, they also have bitter memories of generations of British, Russian, and American espionage, invasion, and dominance. There are important lessons to be learned from the past, and Polk teases them out of a long and rich history and shows that it is not just now, but for decades to come that an understanding of Iran will be essential to American safety and well-being.

©2009, 2016 William R. Polk (P)2020 Tantor Middle East Political Science Politics & Government War American Foreign Policy Royalty

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All stars
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Listening to this book for a beginner at Iranian politics and history was great fun. Recommend to anyone.

excellent exposition

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This book gives a different perspective and although it is narrated by an American, gives an insight into Irani point of view. I just didn’t expect that this book concentrates so strongly on politics of past few decades, especially relations with the US. I expected that I would learn more about general culture and customs which wasn’t the case.

Different perspective

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I found this very helpful, especially since it was written by someone who was on the inside of the US government. I am sure that many Americans may baulk at the criticism and responsibility laid at the US's feet, butI believe that recent history, the tragic, destructive and horrific US-led military operations in the Middle East testify to the weight of Mr Polk's assessments and conclusions.
The reading of the book was stilted and detracted from the content, but my interest in the material far outweighed this negative aspect.

Insightful

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Very disappointed with this book, some of the facts are at best questionable but more likely incorrect. It seems he is on a personal crusade to get across what I think is an incorrect and biased point of view. It certainly should not be read by any history student that wants to learn about Iran. The reading is very difficult to listen to and appears to be very poor AI, Do not waste a credit on this book.

Questionable facts

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Horrible sounds - as if being read to by a 2007 windows computer - contents may be great but impossible to listen to!

Sounds like it’s read by AI

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The blurb promises the history from Cyrus to Khamenei, but neither features much in the book. Ancient and medieval history get a cursory treatment. There is more detail on modern and contemporary history but most attention is paid to recent events not in Iran but in the USA. Meanwhile, there is a lot of repetition and the second addition adds to the first without revision.

unbalanced

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