Rating: 
Summary: Insightful and Fascinating Work by Sandra Mackey
Review: I read the book when it came out in hard bound, and then again referred to it again recently in my college course work. It is a very insightful and excellent history of Iran. Although I am not Persian I did share parts of the book with Persian friends. Some had their own personal opinions on the matter, however, after reading it, I felt that Sandra Mackey gave a very good perspective. She does add some of her own personal interest and flavor, but I do not think it takes away from factual evidence. Be prepared, it is a long book. It was a bit tough at the beginning to get going for me, but once I was into it, it was at times a page turner, and very good. I would highly recommend this book. Anyone with an interest in the story of Iran, be it you are from the era of the Revolution (such as myself) or you are studying Middle East History (like myself) ** Keep in mind most Persians hate being referred to as Middle Easterners and as author and great lecturer Edward Said would say, that is a derogatory term. Anyway, if you find the region of interest, this book is a must read. Very well done, and one of the more detailed and interesting books I have read on Iran and the Persian History.
Rating: 
Summary: An Iranian-Arab-Jew reviewing
Review: I thought "The Iranians" was informative, fact-filled, and fair. Sandra Mackey clearly knows Iran and writes with a lot of authority. Overall, the book provided exactly what I wanted: a balanced and very valuable summary of the history and culture of Iran.
"The Iranians" approaches its subject primarily by means of historical narrative. From Zoroaster to Xerxes and Khomeini to Khatami, the account is mainly factual and descriptive. However, Mackey also intersperses her own personal experiences in Iran, and she is not timid about drawing conclusions or stating opinions. For example, she describes with equal candor the follies of the British, the Americans, and yes, the Iranians themselves. This is sure to offend some people, as any 400-page summary of one of the world's great civilizations inevitably will.
My one major complaint about "The Iranians" is that it could have been edited better. The writing is generally very good, and the book is filled with relevant facts and perceptive observations. But it is choppy and repetitive at times. A second edition would be great, slimmed by 50 pages, and with maps that tie better to the text!
Living in southern California, it's been interesting to get to know some of the many Persian emigres here. They hold contradictory views on many subjects, except when it comes to the uniqueness and historical importance of their country. I know a few things about the world's other major civilizations, and I'm old enough to remember clearly the hostage crisis at the U.S. embassy. But I knew very little else about Iran, and was looking for a good one-volume introduction.
I started with Elaine Sciolino's book "Persian Mirrors." This is an excellent description of Iranians as people, and of life in the Islamic Republic. Sciolino is quite a story-teller, and she clearly likes Iranians, without fawning. Yet though she often refers to events in Iranian history, "Persian Mirrors" cannot really stand as history itself. So I felt I needed another book to fill in the background. "The Iranians" does just that. The two books were quite complementary.
Rating: 
Summary: A small message to the authoress
Review: Ma'am, I am not given to writing book reviews professionally BUT as a practising, born and bred Zoroastrian, I feel compelled to say that our ethical triad rests on Good Thoughts, Good Words and Good Deeds - in that order. Perhaps a typo makes you state Good Works which would equal Good Deeds. Also some not very au fait with Zoroastrianism are often found to place Good Words before Good Thoughts - a slight impossibility, don't you think? For further assistance with the not too obvious, please feel free to write to me privately at my email address - I should love to learn more about you too! Thanks for a patient read,
Shirin J. Mistry.
Rating:
Summary: A simple thesis weaved from a complex history!
Review: MacKey does a very good job of presenting the 3,000-year Iranian history in a readable form while searching for common themes in it. What she finds is a people with an inexhaustable passion for justice--linking the Zoroastarian revolutionary priests Mani and Mazdak with their Muslim heirs, Kashani and Khomeini; linking absolute monarchs ("shahanshahs" or king of kings) Cyrus with Shah Abbas and Reza Shah. Given the fact that Iran's struggle to reconcile its Islamic and Persian heritage are very much alive today, this book could very well join Mottahedeh's THE MANTLE OF THE PROPHET as the best-written text on post-revolutionary Iran, to be read by the students of history and State Department policy makers alike.
Rating:
Summary: Detailed and interesting, but at times Romanticizes culture
Review: Mackey has written an excellent book in terms of historical facts and detailed accounts of Iran's past. However, her analysis and commentary on Iranian identity leaves much to be desired. She attempts to provide a modern perspective of Iran through discussing its long past, yet it seems to me that Mackey seems bent on forming an all-inclusive idea of what being "Iranian" is. That simply is not possible. Given the long history, incredible diversity, and complexity of the subject (which the author notes), the only way that one could present formula of "Iranianism" is by making many generalizations, which abound in this book. How else could one fit some 2500 years of history into 400 or so pages? All in all, it is a great introduction to Iran and a well-written, engaging book. My advice to readers: take Mackey's conclusions about why Iranians are the way they are with a grain of salt; this is not an academic book but rather, popular reading.
Rating:
Summary: Couldn't finish this one....
Review: Ms. Mackey has written a decent popular overview of Iranian history that is hampered by certain limitations of focus and technique. As the title suggests, she frames that history as an almost continuous tension between a Persian identity with a 2,500 year heritage and the later influence of Islam. As with most "grand theme" histories, she's forced to simplify the elements of the theme (reducing Persian culture and Shia Islam to a few key elements) and squeeze a complex history into this framework. Such an approach lends coherence to the book, but results in elimination of many influences and trends that would round out our view of the Iranians and their history. For instance, I was hoping she'd delved more deeply into the various tribes whichare eoncompassed by modern Iran. She suggests that frequent tribal unrest occurred over the last 100 years, but gives us no idea of the possible competing interests and worldview of these groups. Similarly, we get a very sketchy idea of economic history except the suggestion that resources have not been fairly divided in Iran for most of its history. Economic factors frequently can be directly related to revolutionary activity, but we find only hints of this from Mackey. There are other threads I wish she had taken up as well. What we do get is a decently written trip through 2,500 years of history which hits most of the key figures and events without really delving into anything terribly deeply. The book devotes more pages as we reach modernity, but the yoke of her thesis keeps Mackey from generating a broad picture of even the 20th century. Overall, not a painful way to approach the subject, but not really satisying for anyone wanting a really in-depth history of the subject. Read it, and then read on. Finally, a word to some of the criticism voiced below. First, Mackey doesn't strike me as terribly "orientalist," merely shallow. She seems generally sympathetic to her subjects but she doesn't really get under their skin. Her sympathy serves her especially well towards the end where she succeeds in reducing the demonization of the Iranians by modern America. Those who suggest that she paints Persian culture in a bad light by, among other things, overemphasizing patriarchalism and failing to compare it to similar attitudes in ancient Greece and Rome seem to me to just have an axe to grind. Had this book been published by a university press and presented itself as a scholarly book, I might have agreed. But, this is clearly meant as a general POPULAR history, so those who expected more shouldn't have been surprised. Lastly, I can't speak to the factual mistakes some people cite, but I can say that since I would only consider this an introduction to the subject at best, further reading ought to clarify any ambiguities.
Rating: 
Summary: A decent introduction but no more
Review: Ms. Mackey has written a decent popular overview of Iranian history that is hampered by certain limitations of focus and technique. As the title suggests, she frames that history as an almost continuous tension between a Persian identity with a 2,500 year heritage and the later influence of Islam. As with most "grand theme" histories, she's forced to simplify the elements of the theme (reducing Persian culture and Shia Islam to a few key elements) and squeeze a complex history into this framework. Such an approach lends coherence to the book, but results in elimination of many influences and trends that would round out our view of the Iranians and their history. For instance, I was hoping she'd delved more deeply into the various tribes whichare eoncompassed by modern Iran. She suggests that frequent tribal unrest occurred over the last 100 years, but gives us no idea of the possible competing interests and worldview of these groups. Similarly, we get a very sketchy idea of economic history except the suggestion that resources have not been fairly divided in Iran for most of its history. Economic factors frequently can be directly related to revolutionary activity, but we find only hints of this from Mackey. There are other threads I wish she had taken up as well. What we do get is a decently written trip through 2,500 years of history which hits most of the key figures and events without really delving into anything terribly deeply. The book devotes more pages as we reach modernity, but the yoke of her thesis keeps Mackey from generating a broad picture of even the 20th century. Overall, not a painful way to approach the subject, but not really satisying for anyone wanting a really in-depth history of the subject. Read it, and then read on. Finally, a word to some of the criticism voiced below. First, Mackey doesn't strike me as terribly "orientalist," merely shallow. She seems generally sympathetic to her subjects but she doesn't really get under their skin. Her sympathy serves her especially well towards the end where she succeeds in reducing the demonization of the Iranians by modern America. Those who suggest that she paints Persian culture in a bad light by, among other things, overemphasizing patriarchalism and failing to compare it to similar attitudes in ancient Greece and Rome seem to me to just have an axe to grind. Had this book been published by a university press and presented itself as a scholarly book, I might have agreed. But, this is clearly meant as a general POPULAR history, so those who expected more shouldn't have been surprised. Lastly, I can't speak to the factual mistakes some people cite, but I can say that since I would only consider this an introduction to the subject at best, further reading ought to clarify any ambiguities.
Rating:
Summary: Terrible Mis-Representation of the Baha'i Faith
Review: This book has several mentions of the Baha'i Faith in it, referring to the Faith as "an offshoot of Islam", and in one part quoting someone as making the Baha'is out to look like violent animals. I will never read anything by this author again, she may be aware of Iran's history and politics, but is very miseducated in the area of the Baha'i Faith (not Bahaism as she writes it). The Baha'is are quite the opposite of what this author believes.
Rating: 
Summary: A MUST READ FOR ANYONE INTERESTED IN THE PERSIAN CULTURE
Review: This book is a treasure for those who are interested in learning about this ancient people and their culture. It covers the history of Iran from 2500 years ago when Cyrus the great ruled Persia to the present Iran. She analyzes the impact of all the foreign invasions including the Arabs, Turks, and the Mongols on the Persian culture, and how this culture survived all the hostilities. She reasons how the Persian culture changed the Islam that resulted in Shia Moslem. She has done a wonderful task of in depth analyses of the Iranians, and what was culturally different about them that lead to the revolution.
Rating:
Summary: mostly good facts, bad conclusions
Review: this book is okay for a beginners intro to iran but it misconstrues completely some of the facts of iranian history. mossdaegh did NOT assume dicatatorial powers, and at times it seems that ms mackey feels sympathy for the shah. the crimes of SAVAK, the shah's secret police, arent well documented either. dont waste your money- I recommend THE LAST GREAT REVOLUTION by Robin wright or PERSIAN MIRRORS by Elaine Sciolino
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