Author Description

This volume contains nearly a decade of Shadman's diaries, spanning from his departure from Tehran in mid-December 1933 to March 1943 - almost two years before the end of his tenure as a delegate of the Imperial Government of Iran with the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC) in London. During his time in London, Shadman took advantage of academic opportunities by enrolling at the Sorbonne, where he pursued the equivalent of a master's degree in international law. He later continued his studies at the London School of Economics as a graduate student, completing a doctorate in international history. The diaries provide a detailed account of Shadman's activities as a writer, student, and government employee in London during World War II. Shortly after his arrival, he accepted a part-time teaching position as a Persian instructor at the University of London's School of Oriental Studies, where he served as a teaching assistant to Professor Vladimir Minorsky. However, as Nazi air raids brought instability and chaos to London, Shadman relocated to Cambridge, where he met and fell in love with his future wife, Farangis Namazi - the only Iranian female student at Oxford University at the time. While in Cambridge, Shadman formed a close relationship with Hasan Taqizadeh, the prominent Iranian intellectual, scholar, and politician who, years earlier in 1933, had played a key role in securing Shadman's appointment as an administrative assistant in the Iranian delegation to AIOC. The diaries in this volume conclude with the British and Soviet invasion of Iran in September 1941 and the subsequent downfall of Reza Shah. Less than two years later, Shadman's employment with AIOC ended, and he returned to Tehran with his wife.