Understanding Iran

RECENT BOOKS and FILM
-- Alavi, Nasrin. We Are Iran: The Persian Blogs. Soft Skull P, 2005. Sifts through the misinformation of standard media to learn first hand about Iran.
--Limbert, John. Negotiating with Iran: Wrestling the Ghosts of History. Offers case studies of past U.S.-Iranian encounters as well as 14 recommendations for negotiating with Iran, esp. considering Iran’s “ghosts,” its history that must be known and considered when negotiating. See PeaceWatch Fall 2009 (newsletter of USIP).
--Majd, Hooman. The Ayatollah Begs to Differ: The Paradox of Modern Iran. Anchor, 2009. The contradictions of contemporary Iran.
--Parsi, Trita. Treacherous Alliances: The Secret Dealings of Israel, Iran, and the U.S.
--Polk, William. Understanding Iran: Everything You Need to Know, from Persia to the Islamic Republic, from Cyrus to Ahmadinejad. Palgrave Macmillan, 2009.
--“No One Knows About Persian Cats,” documentary by Bahman Ghobadi, filmed in secret in 17 days, about Iran’s underground musicians in Tehran, where an est. 2000 bands struggle for expression. See “Persian Underground Film Opens,” The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs (May-June 2010).