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I recommend these just as general Iran books. All of them touch on the Revolution a good bit and will help you understand Iran better:

All the Shah's Men
It does get a bit boring at parts but will help your overall understanding of Iran/the Revolution.

Shah
This is another must read to understand the revolution and Iran. This touches on the Constitutional Revolution as well.
The Ayatollah Begs to Differ
One of the best books about Iran I have ever read. The author (Hooman Majd) has a good bit of "insider" access to some Iranian elites and offers a unique perspective on Iran.

A must see documentary in my opinion is The Queen and I An Expat Irani and the Last Queen (Farah) of Iran. Very interesting and shows a whole new perspective to it all.

I also strongly recommend the videos about the topic found on youtube. There are countless options on the site, most of which have been very reliable in my experiences.

PS Tell me more about your studies. History scholars are always of great interest.

1. Finland's prosperity is less than four generations old. Your great grandparents lived under significantly worse economic conditions than Iranians today live under. Importantly, your access to Western technology and financial systems in the past two generations is not comparable with what Iranians have ever had. Of course, by no means do I deny Finnish resourcefulness and tenacity. Much kudos to you and your ancestry for defending and developing Finland. There are certainly lessons we Iranians have to learn from you. I for one make my living off Linux technologies--and, for a recent example, thoroughly enjoyed Mikko Hyppönen's TEDx talk.
   
   
2. I'm not playing any particular card, Nazi or otherwise, just pointing out the supposed victors of WWII--Americans, the British, and the Dutch--who became the main beneficiaries of the postwar world are not as distinct from Nazis as they pretend to be. There are peoples around the world who see them in the same light as much of Europe sees the Nazis: mass murderers, slavers, thieves.
   
   
3. I'm not the keeper of Muslims in Europe. They aren't my business. I advocate self-determination for nations, not unbridled multiculturalism. I'm Iranian, I live in Iran, and I don't want to dictate to you how you live in Finland. Likewise, I want Westerners out of my affairs in Iran and the affairs of any other nation anywhere on the planet. That includes American thugs who interfere in potential bilateral, voluntary Iranian-Finnish transactions--in the event Iran and Finland find such transactions mutually beneficial. Maybe a Finnish industrialist finds Iranian opportunities attractive or maybe an Iranian investor wants a profitable stake in Finnish industries. Your problems with local Muslims are not mine to solve. The tiny community of Iranians in Finland tend to be highly educated, well assimilated, and--those of them who have any religious inclinations--quite reserved. I don't have relatives in Finland but I have two cousins in Sweden and Norway: a healthcare worker and a seismologist. Neither of them is even that much interested in Iranian culture itself, let alone forcing religious doctrine on Scandinavians.
   
   
4. Imperialism has been around since no later than 16th century CE. In case of Iran, the first parliament was convened in 1906 despite heavy British and Russian interference to the contrary. The same year as the first Finnish parliament, coincidentally. Two years later the very building of Iranian parliament was bombarded at Russian instigation and by Russian Cossacks. The blood Iranians in particular and Muslims in general have given for true freedom is something your schoolbooks don't mention because their purpose is indoctrinating you into believing the myths of Western superiority and justifying support of despotic servants of imperialism in the name of "Westernization." You often see the world through a primarily Anglo-Saxon lens.
   
   P.S. Long-term foreign oppression and interference produces malignancies. You can try Iran: A People Interrupted if you're interested in the gritty details of Iran's case.

Isfahan is historically renowned for its carpet industry. It is said that when Timur invaded, he massacred most of the inhabitants of Isfahan as revenge for putting up such a lengthy defense. He spared the artisans and carpet weavers of the city because even a brute like him appreciated the divine beauty of Isfahani carpets.


In Iran, carpets weren't originally produced in factories (which would be called karkhaneh, meaning workshop), rather they were handmade in people's houses. Later as the weavers became wealthier and could afford workers to knot their designs, they set up buildings were multiple carpets could be handcrafted at once - known as karkhaneye qalibafi. Qali is Persian for carpet, and bafi means weaving, so the whole phrase means "carpet weaving workshop."


If you're interested in Persian carpets, particularly in the historical sense, I recommend the book, The Blood of Flowers. It's set in Isfahan during the Safavid Era and is a fictional story of an impoverished village girl trying to make a living as a carpet weaver. Very insightful and in English.

> homosexuality was considered so offensive and obscene

lol, you are imposing your own expectations for an Islamic culture on a very different time period, but yes, it is fair to say that unless Hafez stated bluntly his interest in fucking young boys then it is still mere speculation that he did...his contemporaries did though, and they wrote about it, like Obayd-e Zakani. This is not to besmirch them or make light of pedophilia using blunt straightforward language, just being clear

you may find this book interesting:
http://www.amazon.com/Faces-Love-Shiraz-Penguin-Classics/dp/0143107283/

student here, currently relearning farsi in an academic environment. i highly recommend the book we are using in class: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1588140555/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_1?pf_rd_p=1944687442&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=1588140547&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0EZ7Z1T8R93BCY5MKYQ3
it has helped me A LOT. it is a very good book for learning farsi.
good luck!

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0190468963/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1524525453&sr=8-2&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=iran+revolution&dpPl=1&dpID=519AJju20sL&ref=plSrch

If you only want to specifically want to learn something more about the revolution itself, I'd recommend you this book. This is the only book I read in english and it was pretty good. (Personal opinion)

About the years before the revolution (like mossadegh and rezah pahlavi) I didn't find anything relevant because I don't have read any books about that topic in english. (But there are some good movies and documentaries too about that time.)

"Temporary marriage" means childen are considered legitimate and must be taken care of.

>As Shahla Haeri revealed in her 1989 book, Law of Desire (published in the UK by I B Tauris), many muta contracts in Iran are transformed into permanent, loving relationships. Contrary to popular myth, it is usually not men but women, particularly divorcees and widows, who seek muta marriage. Haeri’s extensive survey showed that many older women approached “young men, particularly handsome ones, directly and frequently”. http://www.amazon.com/Law-Desire-Temporary-Marriage-Contemporary/dp/0815624832

Heyo, of Iranian heritage and learning Farsi for the first time myself, I highly recommend www.easypersian.com, over 100 lessons, all for free! - http://easypersian.com/

I would also recommend a couple of books:

How to Write in Persian (A Workbook for Learning the Persian Alphabet): (Bi-lingual Farsi- English Edition) (English and Farsi Edition) by: Nazanin Mirsadeghi - https://www.amazon.com/Write-Persian-Workbook-Learning-Alphabet/dp/1939099471/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1503082799&sr=8-3&keywords=learn+farsi


and

Complete Modern Persian (Farsi) Beginner to Intermediate Course: Learn to read, write, speak and understand a new language (Teach Yourself) by: Narguess Farzad - https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Modern-Persian-Beginner-Intermediate/dp/1444102303/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1503082799&sr=8-4&keywords=learn+farsi

Hopefully this helps, I know you said you`d prefer French, but unfortunately these are the only resources (as an English speaker) that I can personally recommend at the moment. Other than that, whatever works for you, perhaps maybe also incorporate some Persian music.

Cheers.

Click on his other book called Great Britain and Reza Shah, The Great Plunder it takes you to amazon site selling the book and an outline of the book:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0813021111/ref=cm_cr_asin_lnk

Dang. Well, my advice would be to find a book you want to purchase, and search the title on ebay and amazon. Ketab.com (linked by TILopisafag) is a good source to find books and buy them. I found this book on amazon just searching "farsi books", not sure if youd be interested:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Persian-Sphinx-Abbas-Milan/dp/1933823038/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1409626298&sr=8-8&keywords=farsi+books

The books already mentioned are good.

If you want to read from the brutal honest perspective of someone in the inner circle of the Shah, explaining all the blunders, mistakes and foolish things that brought the country so much pain and took the old regime down, take a look at Blood and Oil by Manucher Farmanfarmaian. It is a

http://www.amazon.com/Blood-Oil-Inside-Library-Paperbacks/dp/0375753087

> Prince Manucher Farmanfarmaian was born in 1917 as a Prince of Persia's reigning Qajar Dynasty. He was raised in a world of Oriental luxury in his father's harem. After obtaining a "proper" education in England, he returned to his homeland, which had changed forever. The Qajar Dynasty had been overthrown and replaced by a Military Officer named Reza Pahlavi, a man determined to "modernise" Iran. As the new Pahlavi Dynasty worked to break the power of the Persian Nobility, they would lead to the creation of a nation of hedonistic aristocrats, not only divorced from the common people but increasingly from reality in general. Writing these memoirs with the aid of his daughter Roxanne, Prince Farmanfarmaian delves deep into the splendor of the Pahlavi Dynasty, while at the same time revealing the very blunders which brought them down. From the profiteering of Reza Shah the Great, to the disastrous socialism of Mossadegh, to the havoc that the last Shah's "land reform" wreaked on the economy, the reader will deeply enjoy being swept away into a nation's tortured history. When the Mullahs finally seize controll and the Prince is forced to follow the Shah into exile, the reader will be on the edge of their seat wondering if he will finally escape. Prince Manucher and Princess Roxanne are to be applauded for taking up the challenge of the glory that was the Pahlavis, without at all ignoring their warts and pimples.

Are you in university? There's a website called project muse that gives access to some text book odds, including the one called "Persian in Use," (Anousha Sedighi) which has a very comprehensive alphabet introduction. If not, the book itself is not expensive and you can find it on Amazon. I'm also happy to send you some of the pages if you want them, just pm me if you want them. Good luck!

Here's project muse

Here's the textbook on Amazon. Used is about $36, but I'm not sure what your currency is.

I highly recommend Shahriar Mandanipour, especially Censoring an Iranian Love Story

Well there is, Siavash, Kaveh, Fereydoon, Farzad, Farshad, Farhad, Farbod, Farid, Fardin, lol I know a lot of Far-s. Khosro, Rostam, Bahman, Ramin, Esfandiyar, Ardeshir, Cyrus, Darius and more.

Read Shahnameh. A lot of names in there. And a good fictional, mythological, poetry book.

https://www.amazon.com/Shahnameh-Epic-Persian-Kings-Ferdowsi/dp/1593720513/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1482359064&sr=8-1&keywords=shahnameh+english

This is my favorite loose leaf persian style tea. It's very tasty. :)

Ahmad Tea Special Melange

pretty sure it was this one http://www.amazon.com/Shahnameh-The-Epic-Persian-Kings/dp/1593720513/ref=pd_sim_b_7?ie=UTF8&refRID=0WYJ8SAG84SMDB5N3MRP

I loved All the Shah's Men