Russians in Iran ― Diplomacy and the Politics of Power in the Qajar Era

Russians in Iran seeks to challenge the traditional narrative regarding Russian involvement Iran and to show that whilst Russia's historical involvement in Iran is longstanding it is nonetheless much misunderstood. Russia's influence in Iran between 1800 and the middle of the twentieth century is not simply a story of inexorable intrusion and domination: rather, it is a complex and interactive process of mostly indirect control and constructive engagement. Drawing on fresh archival material, the contributors provide a window into the power and influence wielded in Iran not just by the Russian government through it traditional representatives but by Russian nationals operating in Iran in a variety of capacities, including individuals, bankers, and entrepreneurs. Russians in Iran reveals the multifaceted role that Russians have played in Iranian history and provides an original and important contribution to the history and international relations of Iran, Russia and the Middle East.

Elena Andreeva is Associate Professor of History at Virginia Military Institute, USA. Her research interests include Iranian history and culture in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and colonialism and imperialism in the Middle East and Asia. She is the author of Russia and Iran in the Great Game (2007).Rudi Matthee is John and Dorothy Munroe Distinguished Professor of History at the University of Delaware. He is the recipient of a number of awards, including the 2006 Albert Hourani Book Prize, the Saidi Sirjani Award 2004-5, the British-Kuwaiti Friendship Book Prize 2012, and has twice received the prize for best foreign language book on Iran from the Iranian Ministry of Culture. He is a past President of the Association for the Study of Persianate Societies, and currently serves as President of the Persian Heritage Foundation. His books include The Pursuit of Pleasure: Drugs and Stimulants in Iranian History (Princeton University Press, 2005), Persia in Crisis: Safavid Decline and the Fall of Isfahan (I.B. Tauris, 2012) and (with Willem Floor and Patrick Clawson) The Monetary History of Iran, (I.B. Tauris, 2013).