Books published by Henry Holt & Company Inc

"Savvy and accessible . . . A shrewd, timely guide to Iran's schisms, interests and ambitions."-The Washington Post Book WorldIn Hidden Iran, leading Middle East expert Ray Takeyh demystifies the Iranian regime and shows how this pivotal country's internal conflicts have produced its belligerent international posture, especially toward the United States. With President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad pushing the development of a nuclear program, making a play for regional preeminence, and stirring up anti-Israel sentiment, the consequences of not understanding Iran have never been higher. Takeyh explains why this country continues to confound American expectations and offers a new paradigm for managing our relations with this rising power-at a time when getting Iran right has become increasingly urgent for America.

"The most clear and engaging history of the deadly, historic partnership between Western powers and political Islam."-Salon.comDevil's Game is the first comprehensive account of America's misguided efforts, stretching across decades, to dominate the strategically vital Middle East by courting and cultivating Islamic fundamentalism. Drawing on extensive archival research and interviews with dozens of policy makers and CIA, Pentagon, and foreign service officials, Robert Dreyfuss follows the trail of American collusion from support for the Muslim Brotherhood in 1950s Egypt, to links with Khomeini and Afghani jihadists, to longstanding ties between radical Islamists and the leading banks of the West. The result is as tragic as it is paradoxical: originally deployed as pawns to foil nationalism and communism, extremist mullahs and ayatollahs now dominate the landscape, thundering against freedom of thought, science, women's rights, secularism-and their former patron. Chronicling a history of double-dealing, cynical exploitation, and humiliating embarrassment that continues to this day, Devil's Game reveals a pattern that, far from furthering democracy or security, ensures a future of blunders and blowback.