The Snakes of Iran

The Snakes of Iran PDF Author: Mahmoud Latifi
Publisher: Society for the Study of Amphibians & Reptiles
ISBN:
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 208

Get Book Here

Book Description

The Snakes of Iran

The Snakes of Iran PDF Author: Mahmoud Latifi
Publisher: Society for the Study of Amphibians & Reptiles
ISBN:
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 208

Get Book Here

Book Description


The Dragons and the Snakes

The Dragons and the Snakes PDF Author: David Kilcullen
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 019026568X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 337

Get Book Here

Book Description
This book applies concepts from evolutionary science and military innovation to explore how state and nonstate adversaries of the Western powers have learned to defeat (or render irrelevant) the model of high-tech, expensive, precision warfare pioneered by the United States in 1991 and globally dominant since. The book begins with a historical overview of the period since the Cold War, framed by CIA Director James Woolsey's 1993 comment that "we have slain a large dragon" (the Soviet Union) "but now we find ourselves in a jungle filled with a bewildering variety of poisonous snakes, and in many ways the dragon was easier to keep track of." The book describes the selective pressures acting on adversaries as a result of the evolutionary fitness landscape created by western military dominance. It then explores ideas from social and evolutionary science - including social learning, natural selection, artificial selection, predator effects, and the distinction between concept-led peacetime innovation and wartime coevolution - to explain how adversaries adapt. It presents a series of case studies on nonstate actors (including Al Qaeda, Hezbollah, and Islamic State), Russia, and China, as well as sections on North Korea and Iran. The book concludes by considering how western powers can respond to the increasing ineffectiveness of their military model and examines likely strategic futures.

Appointment in Tehran

Appointment in Tehran PDF Author: James Stejskal
Publisher: Casemate
ISBN: 1612009670
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 303

Get Book Here

Book Description
When radical Iranian students seize the U.S. Embassy compound in Tehran and take over fifty diplomats hostage the U.S. President has to negotiate with a government that wants only to humiliate the United States. When talks fail, the President must turn to the military to bring the Americans home by force. As preparations are made for an audacious rescue, an American intelligence officer hides alone in a Tehran safehouse with a secret. He is protecting a powerful weapon known as the Perses Device, which is now at risk of being captured and employed against the United States. The Agency Director orders that it must be brought out at all costs. But as a small American team clandestinely enters Tehran to lead the way for the rescue force, a traitor spills the secret and KGB Spetsnaz operatives begin their own search for the weapon. At the last minute, one more American is added to the advance team—his sole mission is to get the Agency officer and the Perses device to safety. When the rescue mission fails, only two Americans are left to run the gauntlet of enemy agents and get the weapon out. Getting in was easy...

Zahhak the Legend of the Serpent King

Zahhak the Legend of the Serpent King PDF Author: Ahmad Sadri
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781606998892
Category : Pop-up books
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Get Book Here

Book Description
For the first time ever, a tale from the Persian Book of Kings springs to life in this stunningly produced and ingeniously crafted pop up book. Zahhak: The Legend of the Serpent King retells the myth of the misguided Prince Zahhak who is easily swayed by the devil to murder his father and usurp the thrown. Cursed with monstrous snakes that grow out of the king's shoulders, the Serpent King grows infamous throughout the land for his treachery and oppression. He rules for one thousand years before a noble and valiant Feraydun gains the strength and army to defeat the unjust King. The fantastic world of Zahhak: The Legend of the Serpent King literally pops off the page with intricately crafted spreads, two pop-up folds per page, and complex construction that will delight readers young and old with every turn of the page.

A Sliver of Light

A Sliver of Light PDF Author: Shane Bauer
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
ISBN: 0547985533
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 357

Get Book Here

Book Description
Three Americans captured by Iranian forces and held in captivity for years reveal, for the first time, the full story of their imprisonment and fight for freedom.

The Book of Iran

The Book of Iran PDF Author: Kiyānoosh Kiyāni Haftlang
Publisher: Alhoda UK
ISBN: 9789649449135
Category : Iran
Languages : en
Pages : 124

Get Book Here

Book Description


Shahnameh

Shahnameh PDF Author: Abolqasem Ferdowsi
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101993235
Category : Poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 1041

Get Book Here

Book Description
The definitive translation by Dick Davis of the great national epic of Iran—now newly revised and expanded to be the most complete English-language edition A Penguin Classic Dick Davis—“our pre-eminent translator from the Persian” (The Washington Post)—has revised and expanded his acclaimed translation of Ferdowsi’s masterpiece, adding more than 100 pages of newly translated text. Davis’s elegant combination of prose and verse allows the poetry of the Shahnameh to sing its own tales directly, interspersed sparingly with clearly marked explanations to ease along modern readers. Originally composed for the Samanid princes of Khorasan in the tenth century, the Shahnameh is among the greatest works of world literature. This prodigious narrative tells the story of pre-Islamic Persia, from the mythical creation of the world and the dawn of Persian civilization through the seventh-century Arab conquest. The stories of the Shahnameh are deeply embedded in Persian culture and beyond, as attested by their appearance in such works as The Kite Runner and the love poems of Rumi and Hafez. For more than sixty-five years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,500 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

Witches, Whores, and Sorcerers

Witches, Whores, and Sorcerers PDF Author: S. K. Mendoza Forrest
Publisher: University of Texas Press
ISBN: 0292742495
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 246

Get Book Here

Book Description
Early Iranians believed evil had to have a source outside of God, which led to the concept of an entity as powerful and utterly evil as God is potent and good. These two forces, good and evil, which have always vied for superiority, needed helpers in this struggle. According to the Zoroastrians, every entity had to take sides, from the cosmic level to the microcosmic self. One of the results of this battle was that certain humans were thought to side with evil. Who were these allies of that great Evil Spirit? Women were inordinately singled out. Male healers were forbidden to deal with female health disorders because of the fear of the polluting power of feminine blood. Female healers, midwives, and shamans were among those who were accused of collaborating with the Evil Spirit, because they healed women. Men who worked to prepare the dead were also suspected of secret evil. Evil even showed up as animals such as frogs, snakes, and bugs of all sorts, which scuttled to the command of their wicked masters. This first comprehensive study of the concept of evil in early Iran uncovers details of the Iranian struggle against witchcraft, sorcery, and other "evils," beginning with their earliest texts.

Shadows Over Iran: A personal account 1976-83

Shadows Over Iran: A personal account 1976-83 PDF Author: Tim Francis
Publisher: Lulu.com
ISBN: 1326275550
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 183

Get Book Here

Book Description
This true account started as a love story with many obstacles in its way such as nationality, religion and differing cultures and developed into becoming a witness to major historical events. Starting in London in 1975, falling in love and then marrying in Iran in 1977 the story is initially of how life was in the time of the Shah and then the rising storm of unrest as the country erupted into full blown revolution culminating in the change of regime in early 1979. Following this the events of the first four years of the Islamic Republic and the rapidly changing cast of personalities involved are described in conjunction with the US hostage crisis, other revolutionary events and war all taking place in the same country whilst a major construction project involving large numbers of expatriates was ongoing in its own little world. In addition the effect of the upheavals on everyday life are described together with the abrupt termination of this in 1983.

Neither East Nor West

Neither East Nor West PDF Author: Christiane Bird
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 0671027565
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 420

Get Book Here

Book Description
Combining reminiscence, travelogue, history, and interviews with Iranians from all walks of life, a journey through modern-day Iran reveals a nation shrouded by misunderstanding, cultural stereotypes, and hostility.