Author: Nicholas Hagger
Publisher: Jaico
Year: 2009
Language: English
Pages: 261
ISBN/UPC (if available): 9788179929605
Description
The first book on Iran to combine travelogue with in-depth historical reflection.
The Last Tourist in Iran looks at the cultural heritage and present nuclear crisis in Iran. A source of Western civilization, it may be destroyed by its main beneficiary. This tour of Iran explores the rich history of this pivotal country: the Achaemenians (Cyrus/Darius/Xerxes), the Sasanians, the Zoroastrian religion of 2,500 years ago; the Islamic period, the Safavids, and the Revolutions which dethroned the Shah and made Iran an Islamic Republic.
The Islamic idea is caught by observations of the well of the Hidden Imam and of its expression through the architecture, tiles and calligraphy of historical mosques.
Contents
1. Behind the Negative Image
2. In Early Iranian and revolutionary Tehran
3. Among Pilgrim and Sufis in Shiraz
4. Back with the Achaemenians, our Source
5. In Desert Yazd, Among Zoroastrians
6. Isfahan’s Safavid Beauty
7. In Husaynieh and Nuclear Natanz
8. With the Qajars in Desert Kashan
9. The Holy Imams of Qom
10. Among the Medes and Persians of Hamadan
11. With the Shah and Khomeini in Tehran
12. The Pattern in the Persian Carpet
Appendix: Iranian Dynasties
Map of Iran Showing Nicholas Hagger’s Route
Map of Shia Populations
Bibliography