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.

1. Abisaab, Rula Jurdi. Converting Persia: Religion and Power in the Safavid Empire
2. Abrahamian, Ervand. Iran Between Two Revolutions
3. —. A History of Modern Iran
4. Afkhami, Gholam Reza. The Life and Times of the Shah
5. Alam, Asadollah. The Shah and I: The Confidential Diary of Iran’s Royal Court, 1968-77
6. Algar, Hamid. Islam and Revolution: Writings and Declarations of Imam Khomeini (1941-1980)
7. Allen, Lindsey. The Persian Empire
8. Amighi, Janet Kestenberg. The Zoroastrians of Iran: Conversion, Assimilation, or Persistence
9. Aminrazavi, Mehi. The Wine of Wisdom: THe Life, Poetry and Philosophy of Omar Khayyam
10. Ansari, Ali. Modern Iran since 1921: The Pahlavis and After
11. Arjomand, Said Amir. Turban for the Crown: The Islamic Revolution in Iran
12. Axworthy, Michael. The Sword of Persia: Nader Shah, from Tribal Warrior to Conquering Tyrant
13. Baer, Robert. The Devil We Know: Dealing with the New Iranian Superpower
14. Bellaigue, Christopher de. Patriot of Persia: Muhammad Mossadegh and a Tragic Anglo-American Coup
15. Bill, James. The Eagle and the Lion: The Tragedy of American-Iranian Relations
16. Blake, Stephen. Half the World: The Social Architecture of Safavid Isfahan, 1590-1722
17. Bosworth, Clifford. Qajar Iran: Political, Social and Cultural Change, 1800-1925
18. Boyce, Mary. Zoroastrians: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices
19. Choksy, Jamsheed. Conflict and Cooperation: Zoroastrian Subalterns and Muslim Elites in Medieval Iranian Society
20. Cronin, Stephanie. The Making of Modern Iran: State and Society Under Riza Shah
21. Davaran, Fereshteh. Continuity in Iranian Identity: Resilience of a Cultural Heritage
22. Davis, Dick. Epic and Sedition: A Case of Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh
23. Farazmand, Ali. The State, Bureaucracy, and Revolution in Modern Iran: Agrarian Reforms and Regime Politics
24. Farmanfarmaian, Roxane. War and Peace in Qajar Persia: Implications Past and Present
25. Farrokh, Kaveh. Shadows in the Desert: Ancient Persia at War
26. Ferdowsi, Abolqasem. The Shahnameh (three volumes)
27. Floor, Willem. Agriculture in Qajar Iran
28. —. Public Health in Qajar Iran
29. —. The Afghan Occupation of Safavid Persia 1721-1729
30. Frye, Richard. The Golden Age of Persia
31. Gasiorowski, Mark. Mohammad Mosaddeq and the 1953 Coup in Iran
32. Ghani, Cyrus. Iran and the Rise of the Reza Shah: From Qajar Collapse to Pahlavi Power
33. Gheissari, Ali. Democracy in Iran: History and the Quest for Liberty
34. —. Contemporary Iran: Economy, Society, Politics
35. Gleave, Robert. Religion and Society in Qajar Iran
36. Haseeb, Khair El-Din, ed. Arab-Iranian Relations
37. Hooglund, Eric. Land and Revolution in Iran, 1960-1980
38. Hoveyda, Fereydoun. The Shah and the Ayatollah: Iranian Mythology and Islamic Revolution
39. Jaber, Hala, Hezbollah: Born with a Vengeance
40. Jahanbakhsh, Forough. Islam, Democracy and Religious Modernism in Iran, 1953-2000: From Bazargan to Soroush
41. Kamali, Masoud. Revolutionary Iran: Civil Society and State in the Modernization Process
42. Keddie, Nikki. Modern Iran: Roots and Results of Revolution
43. —. Qajar Iran and the Rise of Reza Khan 1796-1925
44. Khan, Inayat. The Hand of Poetry: Five Mystic Poets of Persia
45. Khanbaghi, Aptin. The Fire, the Star and the Cross: Minority Religions in Medieval and Early Modern Iran
46. Kinzer, Stephen. All the Shah’s Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror
47. Kurzman, Charles. The Unthinkable Revolution in Iran
48. Majd, Hooman. The Ayatollah Begs to Differ: The Paradox of Modern Iran
49. Majd, Mohammad Gholi. From Qajar to Pahlavi: Iran, 1919-1930
50. Marashi, Afshin. Nationalizing Iran: Culture, Power, and the State, 1870-1940
51. Milani, Abbas. The Persian Sphinx: Amir Abbas Hoveyda and the Riddle of the Iranian Revolution
52. —. Lost Wisdom: Rethinking Modernity in Iran
53. —. The Shah
54. Mottahedeh, Roy. The Mantle of the Prophet: Religion and Politics in Iran
55. Mousavian, Seyed Hossein. The Iranian Nuclear Crisis: A Memoir
56. Newman, Andrew. Safavid Iran: Rebirth of a Persian Empire
57. Olmstead, AT. History of the Persian Empire
58. Parsi, Trita. Treacherous Alliance: The Secret Dealings of Israel, Iran, and the United States
59. Patrikarakos, David. Nuclear Iran: The Birth of an Atomic State
60. Robinson, BW. Fifteenth-Century Persian Painting: Problems and Issues
61. Rumi, Jalal al-Din. The Masnavi
62. Rypka, J. History of Iranian Literature
63. Saberi, Reza. A Thousand Years of Persian Rubaiyat: An Anthology of Quatrains from the Tenth to the Twentieth Century Along With the Original Persian
64. Savory, Roger. Iran Under the Safavids
65. Siavoshi, Sussan. Liberal Nationalism in Iran: The Failure of a Movement
66. Sims, Eleanor. Peerless Images: Persian Painting and Its Sources
67. Taheri, Amir. The Persian Night: Iran under the Khomeinist Revolution
68. Thackston, Wheeler. A Millennium of Classical Persian Poetry: A Guide to the Reading & Understanding of Persian Poetry from the Tenth to the Twentieth Century
69. Vali, Abbas. Modernity and the Stateless: The Kurdish Question in Iran
70. Wiesehofer, Josef. Ancient Persia