Tag Archives: Persia-Iran

February 2022 in Review

Posted on March 1, 2022 by smellincoffee

I read a lot of books in February. Few of them applied to my challenges, though. The good news is that I continue to make progress on my great and worthy opponent, Mount TBR. Climbing Mount Doom (Base goal: read … Continue reading →

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Sohrab Ahmari and the Unbroken Thread

Posted on September 30, 2021 by smellincoffee

Sohrab Ahmari fled Iran for the West, rejoicing in its freedoms alongside his wife, a Chinese national who had also found relief from the relentless tyranny of her own country. As they formed a family and looked to the future, … Continue reading →

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Revolutionary Ride

Posted on September 16, 2021 by smellincoffee

Revolutionary Ride: On the Road to find the Real Iran© 2017 Lois Pryce304 pages It was a note from a stranger that took her to Iran, a request from a Habib of Shiraz that she one day visit his home … Continue reading →

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Traitors of Rome

Posted on August 30, 2021 by smellincoffee

Traitors of Rome© 2019 Simon Scarrow351 pages Young Tribune Cato and his grizzled enlisted mentor Macro have come a long way together, from the dismal bogs of Britannia to the even more dismal desert wastes of the eastern border. Across … Continue reading →

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COVID Reviews #4: Persians, Nukes, and Bugs

Posted on October 5, 2020 by smellincoffee

On Wednesday I will have my COVID retest, annnnd I hope to have an answer by Thursday or Friday if I am fit for public consumption. I hope so: being in quarantine is a bit like being in a nursing … Continue reading →

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COVID Reviews #3: Romans, Dogs, and Saudis

Posted on October 2, 2020 by smellincoffee

I don’t know if anyone misses my usual chatty, sometimes florid reviews, but they’re impossible to do on a phone. More mini-reviews it is! Continuing my onslaught of the TBR pile, I finished Lives of Famous Romans, by Olivia Coolridge. … Continue reading →

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Related Videos: Losing an Enemy

Posted on July 12, 2020 by smellincoffee

A few months ago I read Losing an Enemy, written by Trita Parsi on the Joint Plan of Action, also known as “The Iran Deal”.     I just discovered a ten-minute clip from Parsi in a TED talk reviewing the history … Continue reading →

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Losing an Enemy

Posted on January 8, 2020 by smellincoffee

Losing an Enemy: Obama, Iran, and the Triumph of Diplomacy 472 pages © 2017 Trita Parsi Losing an Enemy is now a profoundly depressing book,  being an extensive history of an agreement that could have started erasing fifty years of … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics and Civic Interest, Reviews | Tagged , , | 9 Comments

Rebel Without a Green Card

Posted on February 22, 2019 by smellincoffee

Americanized: Rebel Without a Green Card288 pages© 2018 Ssara Saedi Sara Saedi and her older sister Samira were both born in Iran, but following the revolution their parents fled to America by way of Italy.  Although Sara had virtually no … Continue reading →

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The Iran Wars

Posted on October 3, 2018 by smellincoffee

The Iran Wars: Spy Games, Bank Battles, and the Secret Deals that Reshaped the Middle East© 2016 Jay Solomon352 pages When the young people of Iran hit the streets in protest about suspicious election returns in 2009, the United States … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews, World Affairs | Tagged , , , , , , | 8 Comments