In Search of Zarathustra [Paperback]

Paul Kriwaczek (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 6, 2003

IN SEARCH OF ZARATHUSTRA is a quest to trace the influence of the prophet the Greeks called Zoroaster and considered the greatest religious legislator of the ancient world. Long before the first Hebrew temple, the birth of Christ or the mission of Muhammad, Zarathustra had taught of a single universal god, of the battle between Good and Evil, of the Devil, Heaven and Hell, and of an eventual end to the world. Over several decades, Paul Kriwaczek, an award-winning television producer, has cast his eye across Europe and Central Asia, from Hadrian's Wall to the Oxus river, from the Pyrenees to the Hindu Kush. Passing via Nietzsche's interpretation of Zarathustra for a post-religious age, the Cathars of 13th-century France, the Bulgars of 9th-century Balkans, and the prophet Mani's revision of Zarathustra's message in the later Persian empire, Paul Kriwaczek then explores the religion of Mithras - before going back past Alexander the Great's destruction of the Persian Empire, and the era of the great Persian kings Cyrus and Darius in the 6th century BC, to the beginning of the first pre-Christian millennium.

Editorial Reviews

Review

The founder of the Zoroastrian religion (an ancient monotheism which placed great emphasis on human existence as the battleground between the forces of Good and Evil) is popularly known, if at all, via a tone poem by Strauss and a book by Nietzsche. Paul Kriwaczek is a polyglot, fluent in eight languages, who for many years deployed his great knowledge of Central and South Asia as a producer for the BBC. He also has the distinction of having once been the only practising European dentist based in Kabul! This fascinating and well-written book manages to interleave autobiography with the history of philosophy and religion. But its main narrative concerns the actual history which Zoroastrian ideas engendered and shaped - from the rise and fall of the Persian Empire right up to contemporary Muslim states. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Paul Kriwaczek was born in Vienna in 1937. In London he trained as a dentist, and spent a decade working in Iran and Afghanistan. From there he travelled extensively in Asia and Africa before developing a career in broadcasting and journalism. In 1970 he joined the BBC full-time and wrote, produced and directed for 25 years. A former head of Central Asian Affairs at the BBC World Service, he is fluent in eight languages, including Farsi, Pashto, Urdu, Hindi and Nepalese.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Phoenix Press (February 6, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1842126555
• ISBN-13: 978-1842126554
• Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 0.9 x 7.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,232,173 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very good, but a bit skinny on Zoroastrianim per se, September 8, 2003

By 

doc peterson (Portland, Oregon USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: In Search of Zarathustra (Hardcover)

I purchased the book with the anticipation that I would learn more about Zoroastrianism and its practice. Instead, I found an engaging and well written book that disucsses the legacy of that ancient religion on Judiaism, Christianity and Islam. I also discovered quite a bit about pre-Islamic Persia.

Kriwaczek does a masterful job of detalining the shadows of Zarathustra's teachings in the present, and the tremendous debt world civilization owes to Zoroastrianism as a belief system: for example, the concept of "good" vs. "evil" in a cosmic battle for universal supremacy; or the idea of a paradise in the "hereafter"; even angels and demons are remnants of the old Persian religion. Its simply a wonderful read, and gives one a deeper understanding of the Near East in general and Iran specifically.