The Persians (Peoples of Asia) [Paperback]

Gene R. Garthwaite (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1405156805 | ISBN-13: 978-1405156806 | Publication Date: October 17, 2006 | Edition: 1

The Persians is a succinct narrative of Iranian history from the time of Cyrus the Great in 560BC to the present day.

• A succinct narrative of Iranian history from the time of Cyrus the Great in 560BC to the present day.
• Traces events from the rise of the Persian empire, through competition with Rome and conquest by the Arabs, through to the re-establishment of a Persian state in the sixteenth century, and finally the Islamic Revoltuion on 1979 and the establishment of the current Islamic Republic.
• Uses the most recent scholarship to examine Iran's political, social and cultural history.
• Focuses on rulership as a central theme in Iranian identity.
• Also shows how land, language and literature relate to Iranian identity.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A Choice Outstanding Academic Title of the Year

"This book is not a dry historical narrative but an excellent, rigorous, yet generally accessible overview of Persians in history based on the latest scholarship on Iranian society and History. Essential." (Choice)

Book Description

The Persians is a succinct narrative of Iranian history from the time of Cyrus the Great in 560 BC to the present day. The book traces events from the rise of the Persian Empire, through competition with Rome and conquest by the Arabs, to the reestablishment of a Persian state in the sixteenth century, and finally to the Islamic Revolution of 1979 and the establishment of the current Islamic Republic. For each period, the book utilizes the most recent scholarship in order to examine Iran's political, social, and cultural history. It presents this history within an analytical framework that focuses on rulership as the central theme of identity for Iranians. It also considers the part played in Iranian identity by land, political culture, religion, and the arts. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell; 1 edition (October 17, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1405156805
• ISBN-13: 978-1405156806
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,753,514 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars solid presentation, December 26, 2010

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DaLaoHu (Portland, OR) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Persians (Peoples of Asia) (Paperback)

This is the second book I have read in the Peoples of Asia series, (the first being The Tibetans), and in general I have been impressed by the evenhanded scholarship that goes into these volumes.

In this book, the author attempts to portray the history the Persian people, (now known as the Iranians), from their own point of view, and through their own historical/archaeological archives. Unfortunately, from my point of view, there seems to be not much available from the period I was most interested in, which was the ancient period from the Elamites through the Parthians, and so the author is forced to rely heavily, too heavily in my opinion, on the monumental inscriptions of the great kings. In fact, the Elamites are given such short shrift that they barely touch the surface. Still, it was nice to see the wars against Greece put into the opposite perspective from what we are accustomed to, that from the Persian point of view they were probably nothing more than irritants, and most likely had no lasting effect on the course of the empire. Just as the later Roman defeats at the hands of the Parthians were really only irritants on their side, and had little lasting effect on the course of the Roman empire. East was East and West was West and their major spheres of influence were quite distinct. The Persians are not so much a Middle Eastern people as an Asian people.

The surprise from this book was the way the text showed up so many gaps in my knowledge of modern Iran, and then proceeded to fill them in. If you are interested in a brief account of just how the Islamic Revolution unfolded, of just how the ulema originally became so powerfully entrenched in the Iranian bureaucracy, and of just how both of the Pahlavi shahs (who in spite of their shortcomings, did display tendencies toward modernization) so overplayed their hands that they eventually became despised by both the left and the right, this book would be a great place to start. And in contrast to the impression you might receive from the Western press, this book also establishes how even today the Iranians are deeply divided amongst themselves over just which direction they want their country to take.

This volume packs a wealth of information into a small yet readable space.