Along with the usual recommendations on history, sociology, and the economy, literature has also been suggested in this list. This is because Iranians are a deeply historical people, torn between their ancient Persian heritage and their more recent Islamic history. It is difficult to understand this fiercely proud people without understanding the twists and turns of their history. While Ferdowsi, Rumi, and Hafez may have faded from most people’s memory, Iranians to this day remember and quote their works fondly.
- Abrahamian, Ervand. Iran Between Two Revolutions
- —. A History of Modern Iran
- Afkhami, Gholam Reza. The Life and Times of the Shah
- Alam, Asadollah. The Shah and I: The Confidential Diary of Iran’s Royal Court, 1968-77
- Algar, Hamid. Islam and Revolution: Writings and Declarations of Imam Khomeini (1941-1980)
- Allen, Lindsey. The Persian Empire
- Aminrazavi, Mehi. The Wine of Wisdom: THe Life, Poetry and Philosophy of Omar Khayyam
- Ansari, Ali. Modern Iran since 1921: The Pahlavis and After
- Arjomand, Said Amir. Turban for the Crown The Turban for the Crown: The Islamic Revolution in Iran
- Axworthy, Michael. The Sword of Persia: Nader Shah, from Tribal Warrior to Conquering Tyrant
- Baer, Robert. The Devil We Know: Dealing with the New Iranian Superpower
- Bellaigue, Christopher de. Patriot of Persia: Muhammad Mossadegh and a Tragic Anglo-American Coup
- Bill, James. The Eagle and the Lion: The Tragedy of American-Iranian Relations
- Blake, Stephen. Half the World: The Social Architecture of Safavid Isfahan, 1590-1722
- Bosworth, Clifford. Qajar Iran: Political, Social and Cultural Change, 1800-1925
- Boyce, Mary. Zoroastrians: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices
- Cronin, Stephanie. The Making of Modern Iran: State and Society Under Riza Shah
- Davis, Dick. Epic and Sedition: A Case of Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh
- Farazmand, Ali. The State, Bureaucracy, and Revolution in Modern Iran: Agrarian Reforms and Regime Politics
- Farmanfarmaian, Roxane. War and Peace in Qajar Persia: Implications Past and Present
- Farrokh, Kaveh. Shadows in the Desert: Ancient Persia at War
- Ferdowsi, Abolqasem. The Shahnameh (three volumes)
- Floor, Willem. Agriculture in Qajar Iran
- —. Public Health in Qajar Iran
- —. The Afghan Occupation of Safavid Persia 1721-1729
- Frye, Richard. The Golden Age of Persia
- Gasiorowski, Mark. Mohammad Mosaddeq and the 1953 Coup in Iran
- Ghani, Cyrus. Iran and the Rise of the Reza Shah: From Qajar Collapse to Pahlavi Power
- Gheissari, Ali. Democracy in Iran: History and the Quest for Liberty
- —. Contemporary Iran: Economy, Society, Politics
- Gleave, Robert. Religion and Society in Qajar Iran
- Haseeb, Khair El-Din, ed. Arab-Iranian Relations
- Hooglund, Eric. Land and Revolution in Iran, 1960-1980
- Hoveyda, Fereydoun. The Shah and the Ayatollah: Iranian Mythology and Islamic Revolution
- Jaber, Hala, Hezbollah: Born with a Vengeance
- Jahanbakhsh, Forough. Islam, Democracy and Religious Modernism in Iran, 1953-2000: From Bazargan to Soroush
- Kamali, Masoud. Revolutionary Iran: Civil Society and State in the Modernization Process
- Keddie, Nikki. Modern Iran: Roots and Results of Revolution
- —. Qajar Iran and the Rise of Reza Khan 1796-1925
- Khan, Inayat. The Hand of Poetry: Five Mystic Poets of Persia
- Kinzer, Stephen. All the Shah’s Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror
- Kurzman, Charles. The Unthinkable Revolution in Iran
- Majd, Hooman. The Ayatollah Begs to Differ: The Paradox of Modern Iran
- Majd, Mohammad Gholi. From Qajar to Pahlavi: Iran, 1919-1930
- Milani, Abbas. The Persian Sphinx: Amir Abbas Hoveyda and the Riddle of the Iranian Revolution
- —. Lost Wisdom: Rethinking Modernity in Iran
- —. The Shah
- Mottahedeh, Roy. The Mantle of the Prophet: Religion and Politics in Iran
- Mousavian, Seyed Hossein. The Iranian Nuclear Crisis: A Memoir
- Olmstead, AT. History of the Persian Empire
- Parsi, Trita. Treacherous Alliance: The Secret Dealings of Israel, Iran, and the United States
- Patrikarakos, David. Nuclear Iran: The Birth of an Atomic State
- Robinson, BW. Fifteenth-Century Persian Painting: Problems and Issues
- Rumi, Jalal al-Din. The Masnavi
- Rypka, J. History of Iranian Literature
- Saberi, Reza. A Thousand Years of Persian Rubaiyat: An Anthology of Quatrains from the Tenth to the Twentieth Century Along With the Original Persian
- Savory, Roger. Iran Under the Safavids
- Siavoshi, Sussan. Liberal Nationalism in Iran: The Failure of a Movement
- Sims, Eleanor. Peerless Images: Persian Painting and Its Sources
- Taheri, Amir. The Persian Night: Iran under the Khomeinist Revolution
- Thackston, Wheeler. A Millennium of Classical Persian Poetry: A Guide to the Reading & Understanding of Persian Poetry from the Tenth to the Twentieth Century
- Vali, Abbas. Modernity and the Stateless: The Kurdish Question in Iran
- Wiesehofer, Josef. Ancient Persia
