A History of Iran: Empire of the Mind (review)

This new general history of Iran succinctly chronicles how the country has evolved over the past three millennia. Axworthy frames his text as the discovery of an “empire of the mind” to suggest the true enduring impact of Iran: its role as center of a cultural zone extending across the Middle East and West Asia. This work succeeds in introducing the paradoxes and contradictions of its history without getting too bogged down in historiographical controversies and details.

It begins by presenting the Achaemenids both as how they depicted themselves in inscriptions as well as how contemporary Greek observers saw them. Axworthy then treats Iran’s cultural influence on the Roman world through an engaging account of the impact of Manichaeism on Augustine. This section culminates in an investigation of Iranian concepts of kingship as they evolved under Sassanian rule to create a model of good government that endured through the Islamic period.

Next, an examination of Iranian contributions to the Islamicate culture (to use Hodgson’s coinage) of the Abbasid Caliphate introduces the masters of medieval Persian poetry and explores their timeless appeal in a very accessible way. This is then juxtaposed against an account of the upheaval caused by the invasions of Mongols and other steppe conquerors, a phenomenon creatively examined using Ibn Khaldun’s theories on nomadic/sedentary interactions. Axworthy then introduces the Safavids by returning to the origins of Shi‘ism, tracing a path from its early martyrs to the original nomadic millenarian context in which that dynasty arose.

After capturing the Safavid “imperial moment” of Shah Abbas I (1587–1629), he discusses in a somewhat clichéd manner how affairs then unraveled through a series of alcoholic rulers who did not adapt to shifting conditions as well as their Ottoman and Mughal counterparts. Axworthy accurately notes the importance of the era of Nader Shah, though, as a harbinger of changes that would come to fruition only under Qajar rule a century later.

In presenting the story of the Qajar dynasty, he conveys the rapidly increasing importance of Russia and Britain in setting the course of events in Iran after 1800. The text shows how difficult it had become for Fath Ali Shah’s troops to prevail against swiftly modernizing Russian forces in two early 19^th century conflicts, despite the fact that in its own context, the Iranian army remained as formidable under the Qajars as it had been a century earlier, when Nader Shah used it to conquer India. Using somewhat overwrought imagery, Axworthy posits Russia and Britain as fairytale “ugly sisters” thwarting Iran’s attempts at modernization, such as its sporadic programs to build railroads and improve communications in the late 19^th century. This part ends with a brief exposition of the Constitutional Revolution, the impact of the discovery of oil in Iran, and the rise of the Pahlavis.

The final three chapters briefly discuss the later Pahlavi years and beyond, with particular focus on the Mossadeq era and the Islamic Revolution, culminating in a section that brings the discussion of events right up to Mahmud Ahmadinejad’s presidency and the current controversy over Iran’s nuclear program.

Empire of the Mind provides a coherent overview of Iranian history, although its tone becomes at times too glib and even a bit frivolous. Its depiction of the United States, for instance, as at first a “Prince Charming” in Iranian eyes who later disappointed (p. 209) seems over-dramatized, although a strong case can be made for using such comparisons in a general history meant to be vivid and readable. A more substantive complaint, though, would be that there is not enough discussion of the ongoing relationships between Shi‘ite clerics and leaders in Iran, Iraq, and India, which, although mentioned, do not receive adequate treatment. The emergence of the Iranian Shi‘ite clergy’s financial and political autonomy in the Safavid era and its...