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Travel To IranTour of Iran Air Lines Travel Agents Travel Guide Iran Weather Other Sites 
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Guide Books:Lonely Planet Iran, 1998"Iran is easy to explore: it boasts an expansive network of buses, trains an d planes, and there is a good range of accommodation in most places visitors will want to go. For some, the major attraction is that travel is cheap, an d Iran represents extremely good value for your hard-earned dollar ... Forge t the images of fervent anti-western marches and secret police: Iran is a re markably safe country to travel around, and Iranians, including the police a nd military, are very friendly. Women should hold no fears: if you dress an d act according to the admittedly strict local rules, you will be well treat ed (often better than foreign males), and you will suffer little, if any, of the hassles which women often endure in Pakistan and Turkey ... Iran is one of the most exciting, fascinating, welcoming, rewarding and, frankly, inexpe nsive countries yet to be discovered by tourists. And now is the time to go. "Some Books on Travelling to Iran and Iran TourismIran Today, 1995As described by Clive Irving in his book, Crossroads of Civilization: 3000 Y ears of Persian History, for the past three millennia, Iran (or Persia as it was formerly known to the Western world) has been a melting pot of cultures. Under Cyrus the Great, Iran (Persia) became the world's first great empire s tretching from the Mediterranean to the Indus Valley. Subsequent invasions b y the Greeks, Arabs, Mongols and Turks have fed the nation with an amazingly rich cultural diversity in the framework of a continuous national history. T he Islamic Revolution in 1979, and the subsequent Iran-Iraq war (1980-1988), reduced tourism to a trickle. Since 1990 and especially after the election o f the President Mohammed Khatami, there has been a remarkable increase in th e number of foreign visitors to Iran, including those from the United States . Travelers are rediscovering the attractions of a country that has played - and still plays - a significant role in the history of the world. Since P ersian is the language used and the literature found in Iran, this has neces sitated the publication of travel guidebooks on Iran in the English language . For example, Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has published an official booklet entitled A Glance at the Islamic Republic of Iran, which is availabl e in most bookstores in central Tehran. Gita Shenasi (a private cartographi c and geographic publisher in Tehran) has published Iran Today (1995), which is widely available in Iran.The following three guide books on Iran, which are comprehensive and user-fr iendly for tourists have been published abroad. Iran (Lonely Planet)By Paul Greenway and David St. VincentLonely Planet Publications, 1998 (2nd edition) 410 pages, ISBN 0-86442-455-8, Price: US$17.95 (paperback) Lonely Planet is a major travel book publisher and its first edition of Iran (written solely by David St Vincent) was published in 1992 and is still usef ul. The new edition has been partly re-written and updated. It includes de tailed tourism information and a Persian language guide at the end. Iran (Odyssey Illustrated Guides)By Helen LovedayOdyssey Publications, October 1999 (2nd edition) 260 pages, ISBN: 9622176097, Price: US$19.95 (paperback) The Geneva-born Helen Loveday has a Ph.D. in Chinese archeology from Oxford University. Following time spent in Central Asia, she became attracted by I ran and began studying Farsi, the language of Iran. Her book provides not o nly a guide to Iran's geography and tourism but also insights into its histo ry, culture, language, art, and architecture. It also offers an extensive b ibliography for background reading. Culture Shock!: IranBy Maria O'SheaGraphic Arts Center Pub Co, 1999 ISBN: 1558684034, Price: US$12.95 (paperback) This is one of the "Culture Shock!" guidebooks, which provide information on cultures and countries as well as tips for business travelers and tourists. You may also purchase the above books from amazon.com at discount rate. Iranian publishers and booksellers in the USATwo hundred years ago the French philosopher Montesquieu in "Pensees diverses" (1899) wrote: "I have never known any distress that an hour of reading did not relieve." His words are still valid and perhaps more meaningful for us living on the eve of the 21st century. For those interested in Persian (Farsi) books and English books on Iran, there are fortunately several Iranian publishers and booksellers in the USA. Some of these are introduced below.ASIA Publishing CompanyP.O. Box 941634, Plano, Texas 75094Tel/Fax (972) 516-4138 E-mail: ASIA@Asia-Publishing.com Website: www.asia-publishing.com ASIA Publishing Company was first founded by the late Mahmood Atai in Tehran in 1960 and its main office still exists in Tehran. The Texas branch, run by his son, sells books in Persian. Iran Books CompanyP.O. Box 30089Bethesda, MD 20824 Tel. (301) 718-8188 Fax (301) 907-8707 E-mail: info@ibexpub.com Website: www.iranbooks.com Founded in 1979, Iran Books Company sells Persian books as well as books on Iran in English. IBEX Publishers (www.ibexpub.com) operated by the Iran Books Company publishes books about Iran, both in Persian and in English. Some of its publications include volumes of Iran Oral History Project at Harvard University. Jahan Books Company5516 Westbard AvenueBethesda, MD Tel. (301) 657-1412 Fax (301) 654-1330 E-mail: jahan@erols.com Website: www.jahanbooks.com Founded in 1980, Jahan Books Company mainly sells Persian books and vast selections of these books are listed in its Website. MAGE Publishers1032, 29th Street, N.W.Washington, D.C. 20007 Toll-free: 1-800-962-0922 Tel. (202) 342-1642 Fax (202) 342-9269 E-mail: info@mage.com Website: www.mage.com MAGE Publishers was founded by Mohammad Batmanglij in 1984. MAGE has published dozens of high quality books in English about Iranian history and culture and Persian literature. Some of its publications include several books on Iranian (Persian) cookery written by Najmieh Batmanglij. Mazda PublishersP.O. Box 2603Costa Mesa, CA 92626 Tel. (714) 751-5252 Fax (714) 751-4805 E-mail: info@mazdapublishers.com Website: www.mazdapub.com Founded in 1980, Mazda Publishers sell Persian books and also publish English books about Iran. Its publications are scholarly and of high quality, including the Encyclopedia Iranica (volume 8 in 1999) edited by Professor Ehsan Yarshater in Columbia University. |
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