Iran is a country with a deep and complex history. Over several thousand years, Iran has been the source of numerous creative contributions to the spiritual and literary world, and the site of many remarkable manifestations of material culture. The special place that Iran has come to hold in contemporary historical events, most recently as a center stage actor in the unfolding and interconnected drama of worldwide nuclear arms proliferation and terrorism, is all the more reason to explore the characters and personality of Iran and Iranians.
This second edition of Historical Dictionary of Iran is designed to give the reader a quick and understandable overview of specific events, movements, people, political and social groups, places, and trends. Through its extensive chronology, introduction, bibliography, appendixes, and more than double the number of cross-referenced dictionary entries as in the previous edition, the work allows for considerable exploration of a number of historical and contemporary topics and issues. In particular, the modern period, defined as 1800-present, is covered extensively.

Part 1 List of Figures and Tables Part 2 Editor's Foreword Part 3 Preface Part 4 Acknowledgments Part 5 Reader's Notes Part 6 Acronyms and Abbreviations Part 7 Chronology Part 8 Introduction Part 9 Map Part 10 THE DICTIONARY Part 11 Appendix A: Basic Facts Part 12 Appendix B: Provinces: Area and Populations Part 13 Appendix C: Principal Towns and Populations Part 14 Appendix D: Text of UN Security Council Resolution 598 Part 15 Appendix E: Iranian Statesmen: 1787-2005 Part 16 Appendix F: Iranian Government Structure Part 17 Appendix G: Institutional Relationships of Government Part 18 Bibliography Part 19 Index Part 20 About the Author