ENGLISH JOB: Understanding Iran And Why It Distrusts Britain

For decades, British Foreign Secretaries have wrestled with the great challenges of dealing successfully with Iranian leaders. Jack Straw has gone beyond that to develop the rich understanding of the country's culture, psychology and history as revealed in his book. He had an extraordinary experience while on holiday in Iran. He was handed a document effectively blaming him for more than a century and a half of malign British interference in Iran's politics. His book examines the main charges, with a mixture of history, wry comment, and personal recollections from his five years as UK Foreign Secretary. Jack Straw was in the frontline of negotiations and his vivid account links his early diplomatic successes on the nuclear file with the harsh reality of the Iranian system. Iran remains a strategic flashpoint, as the Americans replace diplomacy with sanctions, and this book explains how the Iranian regime justifies its antagonism by playing on the country's unhappy modern history. The book explains the peculiar circumstances of a country finely balanced between becoming a nuclear power and risking international isolation. The past two centuries are littered with examples of Britain reshaping Iran to suit its own ends, from dominating its oil, tobacco and banking industries, to removing its democratically elected Prime Minister, Mohammad Mossadegh, in a 1953 US-UK coup. All this, and the bloody experience of the Iran Iraq War of 1980-88, when the country stood alone against an act of unprovoked aggression by Saddam Hussein has left many Iranians with an unwavering mistrust of the West and the UK in particular. The book is a compelling portrait of an extraordinary country. 402pp, paperback with photos including colour and map.