This selection of essays, written over the years, engages with some of the key questions on modern history of Iran: intellectual, literary, social, and political. The overriding idea arose from a recognition of the manifold nature of much scholarship in the field—especially works that explore the transitional periods in the historical span stretching from the Qajar reign into the early decades of the Pahlavi era and beyond. These phases witnessed profound transformations in Iran’s intellectual history and political culture, and the essays gathered here attempt to shed light on some of the currents that shaped those changes.
The collection is divided into two main parts. The first comprises extended thematic essays that explore developments in Iranian historiography, literature, and political thought. Many of these themes aim to situate Iran’s modern intellectual and conceptual history within broader regional and global contexts, tracing both continuities with earlier traditions and the ruptures introduced by new political, institutional, and ideological formations. The second group consists of shorter pieces—including memorial notes, interviews, and commentaries—which reflect on intellectual life within Iran as well as that of the ever-increasing number of Iranians living beyond its borders.
It is hoped that a combined volume of previously published writings will be more convenient for students of modern Iranian history as they would not have to search for out of the way or inaccessible first presentations of the material in different formats. And, perhaps more to the point, the whole volume is greater than the sum of its parts: its deliberate shifting of perspective—its ‘leaping and lingering’ between general theoretical observations in the first part and more detailed biographical sketches in the second—offers a multi-faceted and more illuminating reading of a complex civilization, drawn from diverse and, in some cases, hitherto unexplored sources and viewpoints.
A.G.
Tehran, October 2025