This is fabulous piece of literature. James Buchan takes us into a country most Westerners will never experience, and gives us a slice of a culture that is as rich as it is contradictory. An amazing journey...

I can't believe that no-one has reviewed this novel. Set at the time of the Iranian Islamic Revolution, it is both a sweeping and dramatic work of literature and a refreshingly different tender love story.

James Buchan is a descendant of John Buchan author of "The 39 Steps", and a former arts writer for the Financial Times. The book received excellent and extensive professional reviews when released in the UK and deserved every one of them.

"High Latitudes" was one of the best novels of the 1990s. The prose dazzles. The plot weaves through time like a dream shot through with a thin but unmistakable atmosphere of dread. It is a love story haunted by the passing of a way of life, the death of a class. Buchan has a voice like none other in contemporary fiction. Try this book; it may take some work getting accustomed to Buchan's way of telling his story, but I found it tremendously rewarding.

Life is so complex when you consider the backgrounds, emotions, cultures, experiences, and motivations of people that the common novel presents a completely false picture when it distills all these things into simple characters. Yes, they are easy to read but also easily forgetable. Like Dostoyevsky, Buchan tries, in a more abbreviated way, to get a handle on the characters in this London (and overseas locales)novel. It moves around a bit but isn't most human interaction choppy and at times inscrutable? I found it interesting to try to piece together and to see what the author was getting at. The characters continued to reveal themselves but this didn't lend itself to increased coherence. People are a mystery and this book was mysteriously interesting. I also had the feeling that the author was writing for himself and not the audience. It was refreshing to try to understand the author rather than be given a feel good cupcake by some happy face author.

James Buchan is a master at depicting the fractured nature of life and consciousness. Bits and pieces are brought together but never seem to illustrate a complete picture. This book is ostensibly about some back channel negotiations surrounding an Arms control conference. Buchan uses this story to examine one man's mind (an intelligence operative) as he tries to get his mind around European history, his personal history, and his heart. The reason I titled this essay "Get to work" is because the reader must pay attention. A great writer is showing you something so don't take your eyes off the text. Not just a story but a taste from the river that is history and one man's consciousness. A book for grown ups. Thank you.

James Buchan has written an enthralling book about the history and impact of money. He treats money as an evolving concept from early Greek writings to symbolic references in art. He considers the ability of money to speak for human desire, including its role in the primary needs to wage war and to make love. The book's style shifts from detailed historical review to literary criticism, so it is not always an easy read, but it is always fascinating. We at getAbstract recommend this book to executives who want to learn more about money's intrinsic power. Read it to learn how money shapes your world in ways you may not have considered.

James Buchan has produced a history of money: thoroughly researched, scholarly,and accurate; But also, highly opinionated, literate and a joy to read. This is not the money of the economists or the financiers...this is the money of the writers and artists..... it probably wont help you make any money, but it will give you a lot to think about. Highly recommended.

James Buchan is not apt to win friends or influence people in the world of commerce with the views put forth in this book, but he has won my undying gratitude. His strong opinions caused me to reflect deeply on the meaning of money in my own life and my responsibilties towards it. While I disagree strongly with some of his conclusions, I admire both his scholarship and his literary skills. My hat is off to this masterpiece of misarguria.

Now I have this book lying around at home with my gradnfathers large collection of fascinating books...old and new. I recently opened it up and was amazed at how beautifully Jedda was described and portraied. See I live in Jedda...seeing how the editors put together the book so truthfully, I thought 'finally a book that shows a city/country as it's true self'. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to look into Arabian life.

I found this book very difficult to read, as the story is not realistic at all. As the author lacks enough knowledge and understanding of the Iranian culture and its sub-cultures, he fails to develop the characters appropriately. For example, he portrays the General as a very religious man. For those who are familiar with pre-revolution Iran, know this well that it would be next to impossible to find a religious high ranking officer (let alone a General). There seems to be too many coincidences. The whole story seems to be more like a white guy's fantasy about going to an exotic place, developing a sexual relationship with a beautiful underage girl and act as her hero, than like a real story. My advice to all of those who would like to cash in on the exotic places such as Iran is, at least, do your homework.

Some books demand you set them down and return to them later, for they are too rich to be read in one stretch (e.g., William Gaddis' _The Recognitions_, Blaise Cendrars' memoir tetralogy). Others, like Buchan's book, will not let you go. Each page requires the next page be read immediately.

This is not to say _The Persian Bride_ is a thriller, nor do I agree that it is an epic. It is, instead, a romance written without sentimentality. I can't imagine the narrator, as he appears at the chronological beginning of the story, ever engaging the sympathies of any reader. He is set up to be toppled, by love in the person of Shirin. As readers we are as eager to see the collapse of the conceited John Pitt and his subsequent self-renovation as to read of their escape and married life together, and what follows their insulated existence.

The prose, because of the weight of thought behind it (from the characters, not from the author), contains more than what is said, but what is not immediately apparent is expansive. Histories and civilizations, as well as lives, lie under every line, and as Pitt topples so does the iran of the Shah.

Someone has said the dialogue is convincing. While I've not been to any of the countries visited in the narrative, the feelings and the toughmindedness of Shirin remind me of many persian friends. The machinations of those in power, those who used to be, and those who want to be are complex and real. The gradual enlightenment of the narrator rings true.

Gradually the novel becomes diffuse as the narrator's grip on himself (it can be argued he never had more than an occasional grip on events) loosens. One can argue that as this occurs the dramatic aspect of the work decreases. Yet what takes its place is perfectly in keeping with the narrator's growth. His journeys through and travails in the middle east, or cental asia, or west asia, depending on the perspective, mirrors his disintegrating self-centredness while revealing the book to be, in some respects, a quest novel. The end, with which some are dissatisfied, falls into the tradition of Dante seeing Beatrice in Paradiso. Its reality is in question, and probably a few readers would like to know if what is presented is what happens. That is immaterial to the novel, for thematically Buchan writes of a type of grace which many will feel to be truthful, if not in fact than in their bones, blood and soul, and which perfectly closes the book.

_The Persian Bride_ is a rich, emotionally engaging and significant novel, an evocative, spiritual odyssey, for which Buchan must be given high praise.

Mr. Buchan's knowledge of Persian culture and literature shines through, "word by word, meaning by meaning," in this enchanting novel.

This is by no means an easy book to read, neither in terms of the writing style, nor in terms of its content. The writing style is beautifully complex and poetic, mysterious. One has to really savor the passages. I wanted to read some of the sections over and over again, just because they are written so beautifully.

In terms of the story, although it is fiction, the context is very real and very conceivable. The trials that John Pitts goes through to become reunited with his wife are not far from the truth of what real people have gone through in that corner of the world. Sections of the story can be very sad, but still the book is a real pleasure to read; a tender love story to remember for a long time, with a refreshing writing style, definitely outside of the ordinary!

Buchan tackles a tough topic with skill and expertise in this highly informative work. His analysis of the "Nursing LAbour Market" is accurate down to the last detail, and some of his statements, whilst at times contriversial, enlightens the reader and gets accross the important message that runs throughout this book. An excellant analysis, marred only by the poor conclusions and weak opinions.

some really really great descriptions here, of forest and sabbaths. the greatest i have read in fact. a priest tries to persuade his congregation to become good christians. some worship ancient religions. there is a coven performing rituals in the woods. if only Buchan would have sticked to that. but no. intrigues, a love story, doubts, and worst of all: another story completely different than this is formed, and this story is boring. for political reasons the priest needs to defend an action. and that destroys the previous story. in the end it all becomes a mediocre blur.

Not one of Buchan's more rewarding works, this novel finds the author in a mournful and disappointed mood. Largely concerned with the doings of a Scots minister in an impoverished lowlands town in the mid seventeenth century, we are tortuously given a social history in microcosm. David Sempill is involved in plots of witchcraft, rural poverty and a bizarre epidemic, Anglo-Scottish border wars and ultimately flight over the seas.In no sense are we swept up into the life or adventures of the hero, as we are say with Richard Hannay in 'Greenmantle' or Dickson McCunn in 'Huntingtower'; both very different classes of hero but both extremely engaging. David Sempill fails the test of engagement and we remain sharply on the side lines, slightly uninterested observers of a time we can hardly credit occured

A good, engaging read. Well developed characters and an excellent insight into a peculiar time of history. Also, a healthy examination of the religious doctrines and culture that define the Scottish Presbyterian presence in what is now referred to as the Reformed Faith.