Following the dictum that biography is the ultimate history, Milani (Iranian studies, Stanford U.) profiles 150 people to recount the history of Iran from the outbreak of World War II to the Islamic Revolution. He interviewed people in Europe, Latin American, and all around the US to obtain information on people in politics and public administration, religion, journalism, law, the military, industry and commerce, banks and finance, agriculture, literature, history, education, the arts, medicine, athletics, and other spheres. The two volumes are paged and indexed together, but the bibliographical and explanatory endnotes are separate. Annotation ©2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)