Using the prism of nostalgia, this innovative work provides a new dimension to the study of late Pahlavi Iran. Set apart from dominant scholarly discussions of the period concerned solely with the causes of the 1979 Iranian Revolution, Nostalgia in Late Pahlavi Iran offers the first study of the expressions and narratives of nostalgia from the state and wider society between 1960 and 1978. Zhand Shakibi offers both fresh understandings of the confrontation of Iranian society with rapid socio-economic, cultural, and moral changes, and the first examination of the state narratives of nostalgia that responded to these shifts. Shakibi draws comparisons with forms of nostalgia in the West, exploring how late Pahlavi Iran reflects global historical patterns during moments of social change. Through close examination of sources ranging across mass media, literature, court proceedings and state policy, Nostalgia in Late Pahlavi Iran provides a new social and political history of this period.

‘Nostalgia, as Shakibi reminds us, expresses not just a yearning for the past but a yearning for change. Drawing on popular newspapers, periodicals, and official documents of the last two decades of Pahlavi Iran, this engaging book informs our understanding of what happened next: the revolution and the Islamic Republic'

Sumantra Bose - London School of Economics

‘A fascinating and highly original study of the cultural, intellectual and political climate in the last years of Pahlavi Iran. The author combines deep knowledge of Iranian history and culture with a sophisticated use of concepts and comparisons drawn from across the globe.'

Dominic Lieven - University of Cambridge