Erudite yet brief, Abrahamian's A History of Modern Iran recounts the broad strokes of Iranian history from the turn of the twentieth century, through to the fall of the reformist Khatami administration and the rise of the conservative Ahmadinejad administration.
This is not a history told through personalities and emotions, nor is it colorfully written for a popular audience. It's easy to get bogged down in the long lists of names and figures in this book, but that isn't so much due to it dumping too much information, but rather the speed at which it moves through the narrative. Abrahamian covers a great deal of history in only ~200 pages, but he doesn't waste words. Huge figures like Mohammad Mosaddegh and Ali Shariati come and go in a matter of pages, but the concise detail provided is more than enough to guide the reader towards further texts.
One thing which did surprise me was the relatively scant coverage of the Iran-Iraq war, which is of course mentioned, but is not examined in depth. I suppose it is best to define this history as primarily political and social, rather than military. Factors contributing to, and the executions of, Iran's many twentieth century revolutions and upheavals, are examined closely.
With all of the media hullabaloo about Iran going on at present, this calm and collected history is a great antidote to the modern polarizing discussion. Iran does not come out of this book looking evil nor virtuous. It does not attempt to celebrate nor condemn, nor does it come down for or against any side in the debate.