Part I. A Shi'i empire
Shi'ism and the Safavid Revolution (1501-1588)
The age of 'Abbas I and the shaping of the Safavid Empire (1588-1666)
The demise of the Safavid Order and the Unhappy Interregnums (1666-1797)
Part II. Reshaping of the guarded domains
The making of the Qajar Era (1797-1852)
Naser al-Din Shah and maintaining a fragile balance (1848-1896)
The constitutional revolution: road to a plural modernity (1905-1911)
Part III. A nation recast
The Great War and the rise of Reza Khan (1914-1925)
Reza Shah and the Pahlavi Order (1925-1941)
Chaotic democracy, oil nationalization, and denied hopes (1941-1953)
The White Revolution and its opponents (1953-1963)
Development, disarray, and discontent (1963-1977)
Cultures of authority and cultures of dissent
Part IV. A contested revolution and the rise of the Islamic Republic
The making of the Islamic Revolution (1977-1979)
The guardian jurist and his advocates
Consolidation of the Islamic Republic (1979-1984)
Facing the foe: the hostage crisis, the Iraq-Iran War, and the aftermath (1979-1989)
Society and culture under the Islamic Republic.