A relationship beset with extraordinary acrimony， the US and Iran rarely see eye-to-eye， if only to avoid war or nuclear catastrophe。 What is at the core of this troubled rivalry that has stymied policymakers and scholars alike？ Using a carefully selected collection of White House， CIA， State Department， and other records， Worlds Apart provides a comprehensive answer to this question: starting from the 1979 revolution and hostage crisis， through the Iran-Iraq War and the spread of radical Islam， to 9/11 and the nuclear impasse， to the 2009 Green Movement and the Obama and Trump presidencies。 The records， which form the heart of the book， offer a rare， unfiltered view into the perspectives and experiences of the American and Iranian governments over 40 years。 Providing timelines， glossaries， discussion questions， and a guide on reading declassified documents， Byrne and Byrne explore this complicated relationship accessibly and innovatively in this unique documentary history。