Abbas Amanat
Iranian-born American historian specializing in modern Iranian history; professor at Yale University and author of works including 'Iran: A Modern History' and studies of Qajar-era Iran.
Books
This list of books are ONLY the books that have been ranked on the lists that are aggregated on this site. This is not a comprehensive list of all books by this author.
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1. Apocalyptic Islam And Iranian Shi'ism
A detailed historical and interpretive study tracing how Shiʿi messianic and apocalyptic beliefs — centered on the occultation and return of the Twelfth Imam — evolved in Iran from the early modern period into the twentieth century, shaping religious thought, mobilizing popular movements, and interacting with political authority. The book examines theological sources, mystical and millenarian currents, and specific movements (including Shaykhism and the Babi upheaval), showing how apocalyptic expectations influenced social behavior, clerical authority, and revolutionary politics in modern Iran.
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2. Iran
A Modern History
A sweeping, scholarly narrative that traces Iran’s political, social, and cultural evolution from early modern times into the contemporary era, examining how religious identity, imperial pressures, modernization, oil, and competing ideologies shaped state institutions and popular life; by synthesizing diplomatic history, intellectual currents, revolutions, and everyday experiences, it explains the continuities and ruptures—especially the Qajar and Pahlavi transformations and the 1979 revolution—that produced Iran’s complex modern identity and politics.
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