[Peace-discuss] Letter to our Congressman

[rlangenh at illinois.edu]

For those who may want to broaden their background regarding Iran, I offer the following:  1) Stevens, Roger, 1962, The Land of the Great Sophy, 1962, Latimer Trend & Co., Whitstable.  (Also Metheun, London, 1965  and available in paperback).  According to the author, " The aim of this book has been strictly limited -- to describe and explain the country's past so as to better understand the more vital subject, not touched on here, of its present and its future."  It admirably a accomplishes it's objective.  2) Hooman, Majid, 2008, The Ayatollah Begs to Differ; The Paradox of Modern Iran Doubleday, New York.Written by an American citizen, son of an Iranian Diplomat and grandson of an eminent Ayatollah, this book describes "a country that is fiercely proud of it Persian heritage, mystified by its outsider status, and scornful of the idea that the United States can dictate how it should interact with the community of nations."  The book rings more or less true to me on the bas!
 is!
 of my limited  personal work in the Shah's geological survey in 1971 and much  contact with Iranis  of the more or less westernized class.  These two books are a good antidote to current polemics.  Ralph Langenheim