Heroes to hostages: America and Iran, 1800-1988

Part One: Uncertain Overtures (1796-1914)

Pluralist Persia: A Land of Many Religions

The Portals of Persepolis: Persian Antiquity and American Curiosity, and Revolution

A Martyr and Many Masters: America and Iranian Constitutionalism

Part Two: Desultory Modernities (1914-1941)

Iran in Transition: War, Famine, and Recovery, 1914-1925

Flirting with Secular Modernity: America and Social Change in Iran, 1925-1939

Investing in Iran: Frontiers and Foreign Competition, 1925-1939

Part Three: Cataclysms (1941-1963)

From Culture Wars to a World War: The Allied Occupation of Iran and its Aftermath

Subverting Sovereignty: The Politics of Oil

Roots of Revenge: Cultural Flux and Specters of Violence, 1954-1965

Part Four: A Troubled Middle East (1960-1979)

The Anti-Aryan Moment: Decolonization, Race, and Human Rights

A Political Minefield: Iran Between Israel and Pan-Arabism

The Shah's Fight for Hegemony: From the Persian Gulf to the Vietnam War

Part Five: The Schism (1978-1988)

The Picketers Come of Age: From Civil Disobedience to Armed Protest

Burning Bridges: Revolution and the Rift in US-Iranian Relations, 1978-1988

Epilogue: Neither Heroes nor Hostages.