So many books, so little time. Looking forward to our trip to Iran this Fall, Jack and I have assembled a reading list that already has me buckling at the knees. We won’t finish all of them—at least I won’t— but I hope to finish one or two in each category.
If you’re planning a trip to Iran, or just interested in the subject, here are a few books we like. Find more at Longitude Books, one of my favorite sites for travel literature, or at your favorite bookseller.
Guidebooks:
Iran: Persia: Ancient and Modern by Helen Loveday
Lonely Planet Iran (Country Guide), Andrew Burke, ed.
Among the Iranians: A Guide to Iran’s Culture and Customs by Sophia Kutlaki
History:
A History of Iran: Empire of the Mind by Michael Axworthy
Forgotten Empire: The World of Ancient Persia by J. E Curtis
A History of Modern Iran by Ervand Abrahamian
Art and Archeology:
The Golden Age of Persian Art by Sheila Canby
Forgotten Empire: The World of Ancient Persia by John Curtis and Nigel Tallis
Persepolis: Re-Discovering the Ancient Persian Capital of Modern Day Iran by Gotz Balonier
Persepolis: The Archaeology of Parsa, Seat of the Persian Kings by Donald N. Wilber
Religion:
The First Muslim: The Story of Muhammad by Lesley Hazleton
After the Prophet: The Epic Story of the Shia-Sunni Split in Isla by Lesley Hazleton,
Language:
Lonely Planet Farsi (Persian) Phrasebook by Yavar Dehghan
Old Persian by Roland G. Kent (Available free online)
Old Persian Inscriptions of the Achaemenian Emperors by Sukumar Sen (Available free online)
Poetry:
Persian Poets by Peter Washington
Memoir:
The Good Daughter: A Memoir of My Mother’s Hidden Life by Jasmin Darznik
Honeymoon in Tehran: Two Years of Love and Danger in Iran by Azadeh Moaveni
Journey from the Land of No: A Girlhood Caught in Revolutionary Iran by Roya Hakakian
Lipstick Jihad: A Memoir of Growing up Iranian in America and American in Iran by Azadeh Moaveni
Filed under:Great Trips, Iran, Travel Tips || Tagged under: adventure travel, Featured, Travel Books, travel literature
