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Understanding Iran
- Everything You Need to Know, From Persia to the Islamic Republic, From Cyrus to Khamenei
- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
- Length: 12 hrs and 29 mins
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Understanding Iran
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Summary
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.
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What listeners say about Understanding Iran
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Richard Tol
- 10-11-21
unbalanced
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.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 27-07-23
Insightful
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.
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Bruce
- 08-07-23
Questionable facts
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.
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Avid Reader
- 16-04-22
Sounds like it’s read by AI
Horrible sounds - as if being read to by a 2007 windows computer - contents may be great but impossible to listen to!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- CorpusMobilis
- 07-08-23
excellent exposition
Listening to this book for a beginner at Iranian politics and history was great fun. Recommend to anyone.
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