Children of Paradise

The drama that shaped todays Iran from the Revolution to the present day 1979 seemingly overnight - moving at a clip some 30 years faster than the rest of the world - Iran became the first revolutionary theocracy in modern times. Since then the country has been largely a black box to the West a sinister presence looming over the horizon. But inside Iran a breathtaking drama has unfolded since then as religious thinkers political operatives poets journalists and activists have imagined and reimagined what Iran should be. They have drawn as deeply on the traditions of the West as of the East and have acted upon their beliefs with urgency and passion frequently staking their lives for them.With more than a decade of experience reporting on researching and writing about Iran Laura Secor narrates this unprecedented history as a story of individuals caught up in the slipstream of their time seizing and wielding ideas powerful enough to shift its course as they wrestle with their countrys apparatus of violent repression as well as its rich and often tragic history. Essential at this moment when the fates of our countries have never been more entwined Children of Paradise will stand as a classic of political reporting; an indelible portrait of a nation and its people striving for change.