There Are Better Options

Mispronounced names and toponyms, hamfisted/preachy anachronistic value judgments written with all the tact of a flunking undergrad, weak command of sources wholly taking western writings at face value, and the implication that the world west of Iran is somehow more civilized and moral and the world east of Iran is nothing but rampaging barbarians. Utterly awful and an incredible waste of money.

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Decently Done

A good introduction but occasionally tarnished by moralizing, speculation, and poor writing. If you would like an overview of the Achaemenid, Parthian, or Sassanian empires, this book provides a nice overview. The modern era overview received much less attention than the previous Iranian empires. I bought this to learn more about the Qajar and was disappointed. I still learned stuff and didn’t feel it was a wasted credit.

very detailed a bit boring

Very detailed. Sometimes the big picture is lost. A review or summary of every period would help.

Great way to get critical background

The first three chapters discuss the rise of Persian culture and creation of the Persian empire and several dynasties, as well as relations with the Greeks and Romans. There was a lot of war but also mutual cultural influence.

The book provided detail

The history suggests several possibilities concerning why the Middle East will remain a source of a variety of problems for many years to come.

Inscribe book

the book addresses debates about Iran’s culture and politics. Political history is the driving focus of this narrative based on decades of research and study, which is layered with discussions of literature, music, and the arts; ideology and religion; economy and society; and cultural identity and heritage.

Gorgeous book

It is not intended by a scholar who wants to analyze the words of the Shahnameh but rather for a reader who is seriously interested in the story who values the visual quality offered.

Very well researched, and very well written

I would recommend this book to introduce yourself to the history of Iran and to build a solid foundation upon which to further your studies with additional books ,which conveniently enough.

brilliant book,

I have read couple of history books specially on Iran, but the wealth of information and analysis in this book is second to none.

Impressive

I believe the decision to include so much early modern history was the correct one: you cannot begin to understand 20th century Iran if you do not understand Qajar Iran, and you can't understand Qajar Iran without going back to the Safavid Empire and its aftermath.