Editorial Reviews
Book Description
The ruins of Persepolis evoke the best-known events of ancient Persia's history: Alexander the Great's defeat of Darius III, his conquest of the Achaemenid empire, and the burning of the great palace complex at Persepolis. However, most of the history of ancient Persia remains as mysterious today as it was to contemporary Western scholars. Compared to the world-famous Alexander, the many wars won by the Achaemenid, Parthian, and Sassanian empires, and their revolutionary military technology, have been almost forgotten in the sands of the East. In its day, Persia was a superpower to rival Greece and Rome, and conflict between them spanned over a millennium. Through these wars, and trade, these foes learnt from each other, not only adopting elements of military technology, but influences in the arts, architecture, religion, technology and learning. In this beautifully illustrated book, Dr Kaveh Farrokh narrates the history of Persia from before the first empires, through their wars with East and West to the fall of the Sassanians. He also delves into the forgotten cultural heritage of the Persians, spread across the world through war and conquest, which, even after the fall of the Sassanians, continued to impact upon the Western world.
About the Author
Dr Kaveh Farrokh has been researching the military history and technology of Persia for two decades. He obtained his PhD in 2001 from the University of British Columbia, where he specialized on the acquisition of Persian languages. He has given lectures and seminars in the University of British Columbia and has written articles for various journals. He is the author of Elite 110: Sassanian Elite Cavalry AD 224-642. He is currently acting as historical advisor on a film project titled Cyrus the Great, and will be appearing in a History Channel documentary on the Persian Empire in October 2006. The author lives in Vancouver, Canada.
Dr Kaveh Farrokh has been researching the military history and technology of Persia for two decades. He obtained his PhD in 2001 from the University of British Columbia, where he specialized on the acquisition of Persian languages. He has given lectures and seminars in the University of British Columbia and has written articles for various journals. He is the author of Elite 110: Sassanian Elite Cavalry AD 224-642. He is currently acting as historical advisor on a film project titled Cyrus the Great, and will be appearing in a History Channel documentary on the Persian Empire in October 2006. The author lives in Vancouver, Canada.
Neutrality
Original Greco-Roman, Arabo-Islamic, Armenian, and Chinese, along with others, sources are consulted in conjunction with Iranian ones to provide the reader with a non-partisan and apolitical view into Iran’s pre-Islamic past. Despite his Iranian background, the author is able to provide a neutral view of Persia’s history, one that includes the weaknesses of Persia before the arrival of Islam. Mention is made for example, of the inequitable distribution of wealth seen between the nobility and the Magi on the one hand versus the peasant and ordinary populations on the other – and the historical consequences of these social dynamics. This, according to Benedict Brogan of the Daily Mail, is one of the strengths of the book.[2]
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