Janet Afary is a native of Iran & a leading historian. Her work focuses on gender and sexuality & draws on her experience of growing up in Iran & her involvement with Iranian women of different ages & social strata. These observations, & a wealth of historical documents, form the kernel of this book, which charts the history of the nation's sexual revolution from the nineteenth century to today. What comes across is the extraordinary resilience of the Iranian people, who have drawn on a rich social & cultural heritage to defy the repression & hardship of the Islamist state & its predecessors. It is this resilience, the author concludes, which forms the basis of a sexual revolution taking place in Iran today, one that is promoting reforms in marriage & family laws, and demanding more egalitarian gender & sexual relations.