Revolution and Reform in Russia and Iran

Book excerpt: The Russian Revolutions of 1917 and the Iranian Revolution of 1979 are two examples of dramatic, sudden and extraordinary political upheaval that significantly altered the nature of the state and society in the modern age. Here, Ghoncheh Tazmini provides an unprecedented comparative study of these two major revolutions of the twentieth century, which although removed from each other both spatially and temporally, have striking similarities. Examining the roots, events and impact of these two defining upheavals, Tazmini analyses how they resemble each other, stressing the continuity of the dilemma of modernisation for the Romanov, Pahlavi, Communist and Islamist rulers alike. This book is a significant contribution to both historical and contemporary debates concerning Russian and Iranian politics, and to the discourse on the origins and consequences of modernisation and revolution themselves.