FULLY UPDATED THIRD EDITION NOW WITH NEW POSTSCRIPT BY ALI ANSARIIf you were to read only one book on presentday Iran you could not do better than this Ervand Abrahamian Times Higher EducationFor some 40 years the Islamic Republic has resisted widespread condemnation sanctions and sustained attacks by Iraq in an eightyear war. Many policymakers today share a weary wish that Iran would somehow just disappear as a problem. But with Irans continuing commitment to a nuclear programme and its reputation as a troublemaker in Syria Afghanistan Lebanon and elsewhere this is unlikely any time soon. An unending stream of assertions about the revolutions finally running down continue to be defied by events and Irans institutions are still formidable.This is the definitive history of this subject from one of the worlds principal experts.