Ties That Bind: A Social History of the Iranian Carpet

Rating:
Summary: Worth Reading (with caveat)
Review: For those who are interested in the economics and sociology of the carpet industry in Iran, this is the book. Helfgott's book gives a good overview of the development of how the West has influenced both carpetmaking and technique, and also convincingly sets forth the case against both Western importers and those involved in industrial scale production for unfair labor practices persisting until today. The book is marred, however, by a somewhat academic writing style and and a haughty stance the author takes vis a vis Western carpet collectors (though I'll bet he owns some). Sometimes the reader gets the unpleasant impression that Helfgott is writing to impress other academics with his politically correct views and verbiage. He uses words which it seems he thinks are more exact, like "Temur Lenk" for example, instead of the generally used "Tamerlane" for example, despite the fact that "Temur Lenk" is merely the Arabic version of the Persian "Timur-i-lang" (Temur the Lame). Temur, of course, was neither Arab nor Persian, but Turkic from Central Asia, and was actually called "Amir Temur". On the whole, the book in general is worth reading for its information, so long as one is prepared to wade through some annoying bits of professorial snobbishness.