Historian and former journalist John Ghazvinian writes in the introduction to America and Iran: A History, 1720 to the Present: "For more than forty years, endings, ruptures, and angry disagreement--rather than beginnings, attractions, and initial infatuations--have become the starting point for every conversation about Iran and America. We are all much poorer for it." In order to counter the focus on the modern end of the relationship between the two countries, Ghazvinian begins his story with how the 18th-century Persian Empire was admired by American thinkers and leaders such as Thomas Jefferson, and in return the budding American nation was looked at as a potential model for a changing Iran. From there, a more nuanced history unfolds, one in which the countries are "animated by a spirit of common respect and mutual understanding."
Ghazvinian uses not only U.S. archival resources, but Iranian ones as well to form a narrative where both countries can speak on their own terms, in his hope that "history can be a force for peace." Given the scope, America and Iran is understandably a tome, but remains fascinating and readable throughout, highlighting undiscussed points of intersection and interaction in the two countries' histories. Ghazvinian adds depth to a much-maligned relationship, examining both sides' perceptions of the other from the 18th century onward. Moreover, he makes an argument that this long history, and the many varied negotiations between differences in attitudes, needs revisiting to better understand how the United States and Iran might yet move forward. --Michelle Anya Anjirbag, freelance reviewer