Customer Reviews

Shadows in the Desert: Ancient Persia at War (General Military)

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Outstanding book. Satisfying and informative read. Very well researched. Long overdue. Beautiful artifact pictures and nice maps. Fills a major gap in our knowledge of classical Iranian military and cultural history. This book will captivate anyone interested in strategic studies (as I am). Read it over two days (couldn't put it down). I look forward to the author's next book.

Not to detract from what is an outstanding study by a conscientious scholar, here are some general and specific issues:

1). The book is occasionally written dramatically rather than clinically, which can confuse some of the narrative (what is the difference between "completely" and "totally" crushed)?
2). There is an obsession with addressing the most ignorant of Western scholarship, when the average self-selected reader will have already accepted the author's (true) assertion that ancient Iran was VERY culturally and militarily influential.
3). The author is not without some bias: he over-associates the Iranians of Persia with the Iranians of Central Asia, and is constantly reporting the contributions of these pastoralists to the rest of the world. While they were important intermediaries (transmitting knowledge of the chariot from China to Greece), they are not Persian, even if they share common ancestry/culture (155). He also spends a whole paragraph seemingly to justify the legitimacy of the incorporation of Iranian Azerbaijan (122).
4). The allusions to 19th and 20th Century events don't often work. The Maginot line, like the Wall of Babylon was for deterrence, not defence (42). Mazdak is more like an Epicurean than a Marxist (with his monistic atheist eschatological historiography - 221).
5). Occasional Herodotean moralistic overtones - specifically decline is associated with corruption (56, 74). Corruption is often associated with high economic growth rates.
6). Plates needed artifact dates; needed more maps showing all the place names. Where is Dhu Qar (255)?
7). Many stretched claims needing more evidence/discussion: the ancient Suez Canal (67), ancient batteries (175), and Iranian influences on Japanese literature and social organization (156/180).
8). A valiant and mostly convincing effort is made to use technology, training, tactics, and logistics to explain to constantly shifting military balance (73, 84, 133, 136), but there are constant gaps that would have been more easily solved if the author simply conceded that the Greeks were right and the majority of Persian/Sassanid infantry were ineffective (Dailamites excepted). The second point, which should have been raised in the technology discussion (175), is that while Persia had excellent armor, it could probably not produce it on the same scale as the Romans under the Sassanids.
9). Need population estimated, however unreliable to make sense of army sizes and losses (229). Colin McEvedy estimates 4 million (400 BC) to 5 million (AD 600), excluding Herat and Mesopotamia (1.25 million in 20 BC).
10). Need to discuss the enduring tribal/clan aspects of Iran in the context of feudalism, since the former seemed to dominate the operations of the latter (156-158).
11). Unsupported speculation on Roman intentions, especially likelihood of an invasion of India (159). Nice insight on the Alexandrine Impulse.
12). Needed a major discussion on Persian sources, especially the reasons for their absence.
13). My academic area of specialty is South Asia, so I was disappointed by the sparseness of the accounts of Persian political and military involvement in South Asia. More research needs to be done in that direction (I ack how difficult that is though).


Specific issues:
1). The prevailing evidence is that the Elamite-Dravidian Indus civilization collapsed over too long a period to be substantially caused by the Aryan invasions (22). Not clear how the Akkadians campaigned against the Medes in 2230 BC before they had migrated there (27).
2). Can't assume readers know what an "oriental" empire is (59 - Wittfogel)?
3). Needed major elaboration on the Persian presence in Calabria (63, 69).
4). Kidunnu's calculations of what exactly (63)?
5). Would have appreciated a technical description of the Royal Road (64).
6). What techniques of communications were passed from the Persians to the Greeks (64)?
7). Highly debatable that Persia had a "free market" given substantial transit duties (65).
8). It is increasingly believed that the mosaic does not portray Alexander (104).
9). I was hoping to know the Chinese name for Persia (126). The Romans called Zhong Guo China because of the state of Ch'in.
10). The Anatolians and people from Asia Minor are not predominantly of Iranian (or even Greek or Turkic) ancestry (127), but include Phrygians, Hittites, etc.
11). It is not clear that Orod II started fratricide or whether that was simply the political result of the fantastic increase in the size of harems (135).
12). Some facts are missed and more discussion needed: Nero deployed a cohort on Zanzibar to circumvent the Persian maritime of Roman trade (149, 161). The Periplus also puts into context the trade routes the Romans used to bypass the Parthians, which highlights the effects of the presence of the Sassanids in Yemen (237).
13). Need to address the widely held belief that Zoroastrian forts are round because they are made to resemble the sun (174, 243).
14). It should have been stated much earlier in the text that Roman-Parthian/Sassanid wars almost always occur when Rome was vulnerable due to civil or external preoccupations (189).
15). It is actually well known in theology (my wife is one) that Christianity was built on Zoroastrianism (192).
16). Typo? Were there really seven legions (42,000) in Amida (204)?
17). Unconvinced. The nomads almost never had larger numbers that those they attacked. Why is this different (245)?
18). For the Sassanians to be the first "Caucasians" (white folks?) in the Far East, one would need to falsify the evidence of Phoenician ships in the Red Sea. Indian Ocean, and beyond.
19). The Elamo-Dravidians were likely the first regular maritime travelers along the coast of the Arabian Sea (288) for at least a millennium before the PIE arrived on the Iranian Plateau.

This was a long overdue book on a subject of the preIslamic Persia (or should we say Greater Persia for today's Persia or Iran are just sad remnants of the great culture and great peoples) told in the context of her military history, military achievements .. and downfalls.
Although published by Osprey Military Press, thus implying military orientation of the text, this book is much more than an overview of the martial cultures (battles, campaigns, warriors, weapons, tactics) that sprung from the Persian/Iranian soil. It is a story of the Iranian peoples who came to dominate the Western and Central Asia for over 1000 years while influencing the cultures of Europe (Greece and Rome), Africa (Egypt, Ethiopia) and and distant China - influences in religion while giving us the most romantic notion of a martial personage - a fully armoured knight with a long lance in this hand, long sword and mace at this side while astride his fiery and faithful stallion - as personified by the Persian kings and lords from Darius (Achaemenid Persia), Surrenas(Parthians) to Chosroes and Rostam Farrokhzad (Sassanian Iran) or immortalized by the legendary Persian warrior of Shahnameh - Rostam on his Raksh.
Author who already has successfully given the readers the story of the Sassanian(the last preIslamic culture of Persia) cavalry elite aka as asavaran (also published by Osprey), here undertook the Herculean task of condensing the millennia of Persian history into 300 pages. In result he quite skillfully weaves the narrative of the more than a thousand years long story of the Persian empires without tiring the reader with his descriptions or concussions.
His keen eye for linguistic nuances and other cultural aspects and links makes this a delightful reading for many a student of the subject, because it solidly puts the Persian warriors in the context of the cultures that created them. This book is definitely a must for those want to have and use a single, encyclopedia like, volume on the subject as well as this is a must for those who already are students of Greek and Roman history and should learn more about the most dangerous and powerful enemy of the Greco-Roman world.
Many a student will be surprised to learn that very large chunks of Asia (Pakistan, Arabia, India, former Soviet Republics) were part of the Persian world for more than a thousand years while Greeks, Persians and other Iranians created cultures that gave rise to wonderful cultures in today's Pakistan and Northern India - Greco-Bactria, Ghandara and Kushan empires
It is also important to mention great quality and quantity of pictures and photographs that appear in this very nicely printed book of some 300 pages.
My only wish would have been to have much more descriptive accounts of the last two great battles, Qadisiyah and Nehawand, fought between the invading Moslem Arabs and Sassanians. Those battles that decided the fates both of preIslamic Persia and Moslem world. Perhaps had the Persian won we would have never had the Twin Towers Tragedy of 9-11. The author does narrate the important ramifications of that Arab conquest of this richest empire of the Western world, as Persia at that time was part of the Western world.
I strongly recommend this book both to the high school and college students wanting to consult this Persian history in the nutshell and to scholars who might want to elaborate more or consult this work for its sweeping approach to the subject and interesting conclusions made by the author.

This proves to be a very good summary of the history of the pre-Islamic Persia. The subject of the book basically covered between the rise of the Persian Empire of Cyrus to the fall of the Sassanian Empire to the Islamic Arabs, over 1,000 years of imperial Persian history, interrupted only by Alexander the Great and his successors for couple hundred years.

I thought the author did an excellent job in summarizing these 1,000 plus years into a very readable and easy to access book that should give anyone who wishes to know anything about the ancient Persian civilizations, a good and clear understanding.

The book comes well illustrated, nice maps and good photographs including reenactor photographs that was done under the late Shah of Iran during the early 1970s. Interesting photos of men dressed up like Persian warriors of Darius the Great.

Perhaps the book fell short on the military history part since the author appears to give summarized coverage to all aspects of the four Persian civilizations in question (four being the ancient Persian Empire, Greek Persian era, Parthian Empire and Sassanian Empire). He goes bit off tangent when tracing racial roots of the Persian homeland and love to use that word "aryan" to describe his Persian/Iranian subject. He could be bit tick at the way Euro-centric thinkers stole that word from its rightful place in history.

Overall, this is a good book to recommend since it will give any reader a clear understanding of the history of the ancient Persia prior to the Islamic conquest. Other reviewers have nitpicks the book so you have to read them if you want the specifics. But overall, its informative, interesting and easy to absorbed.

One of the most significant books on Persia in the last 15 years. FINALLY, a book that is not only hardcover and gorgeous, but also on par with the ones written about Greece and Rome. According to the author and verified by the publisher, "There are 400 pages of references here".

Dr. Patrick Hunt and Dr. Kaveh Farrokh appeared in History Channel`s `Engineering an Empire: The Persians`. They are both academically reputable and fair. Dr. Farrokh is one of the very few scholars who narrates things as they were, and not as one side (namely some Greek and Roman authors on one side, and a few Iranian scholars on the other) would have you believe: Perhaps this is the true backbone of scholarship, minus a cornocupia of bias.


Just to mention also, before I read this book, I actually had read articles and one book by the Irish scholar Michael McClain giving extensive mentions of the link between ancient Indo-Iranians and their Indo-European kin, the Celts, so Dr. Farrokh`s discoveries were not that new to me, but were nonetheless shocking.

Overall, however, the images in the book are beautifully illustrated and almost all of them contain useful captions -- the narration of the wars, types of armour used, geographical locations and NEW DISCOVERIES unraveled by Farrokh himself, such as Iranian influences on Gothic architecture makes the book truly worthy of a read.

Shadows in the Desert: Ancient Persia at War is a must read for anyone who wants to understand Iran's ancient history and to go beyond the usual Western point of view. It is very refreshing to learn the story from the other perspective and is really mind opening. The book is very detailed, very well written, and includes amazing photographs. It covers Iran's Achaemenid, Parthian, and Sassanid periods and is an amazing source for information. It will be a great addition to any history collection, and will be a great read for anyone interested in history, especially Near Eastern and European history. Professor Farrokh has done an amazing job.

Without exaggeration, this book is probably one of the best books published on ancient Iranian history available to the public today.

This is the second book I've read from this author, and i've to say it's an honest reading, historically accurate and well supported by good pictures. As the first one.
Worth the price, in my humble opinion.

This is a very interesting book that I purchased as it was part of the very good Osprey series on military history...It is, however, very different from the other works in the series. There are none of the usual color paintings of troops or battle scenes that are usually common in these works, so the book has limited value as a painting guide. It also is an excellent introduction to the culture and religion of the Persians as well as a military history. There is much here on the Persian military systems and the various campaigns.

This book has notable strong points. The author has a fine bibliography, and much of it is to contemporary Iranian sources that we tend to ignore in the United States. The maps are good, and the pictures of the golden objects are beautiful.

I have certainly profited from reading a work that gives one a view "from the other end of the telescope". The Persians are more than actors who simply appear on the stage as a foil to the Greeks and Romans; here we see things from their point of view. I must, however, take issue with several of the books comments. Persephone does not mean "Persian speaker"; origin of the name is far more complex, and the name was first used in Hesiod long before the Greeks had contact with Persia. I cannot believe that the Basilica of Maxentius in Rome is a copy of a Persian structure. His descriptions of Marathon and Thermopylae (4,000 Greek Casualties???) leave much to be desired. The author seems to ascribe everything that is noble (King Arthur Legend), valiant (Polish military tactics), scientific (Parthians invented batteries)or artistic (the tympanum of the church of St. Pierre in France is modeled after a theme in Sassanid art- even though in actuality it is a rendering of the Byzantine Christ Pantocrator which in turn is the Olympean Zeus)or nautical (Persian ships reached the Pacific...I was waiting for him to say they discovered America!

There is a noxious series of books about how "ethnic group x or y or z" saved the world, preserved learning or invented dry cleaning. This work comes perilously close to being one of those. Yet, I am happy that I read this work; it was illuminating and intellectually stimulating.

This should have been an excellent review of Iranian history for beginners. There are a lot of places where it shines, offering up information that is otherwise not readily available to the neophyte.
Unfortunately, the maps and the illustrations are only occasionally relevant to the text. There are no battle maps. Illustrations of Persian warriors seem to depend on drawings in the Shah's 2500 year celebration (many of which are historically inaccurate). Other illustrations have nothing to do with the text, while artifacts that are described in detail are often not shown.
The high-gloss pages and the general "coffee-table book" format make for uncomfortable reading.
Some of the occasional digressions are interesting. I call to mind the suggestion that the Arthurian cycle was originally introduced to Britain by Alans resettled in Roman Britain [!!]. But the work seems unfocussed.
This is the sort of book one would expect from a talented hobbyist, rather than from a professional historian. It's an enjoyable enough read, but it can be highly frustrating at times.

I long ago came to expect excellence from any book produced by Osprey Publishing, and this book certainly meets my expectations. This book by a Harvard professor of Iranian Studies examines the Persian art of war, as practiced from prehistoric proto-Indo-European tribes, through the Achaemenids, the Parthians and the Sassanians. Along the way, the reader is treated to many excellent color maps and pictures.

Personally, I found the book to be an excellent resource, really informing me in the way that the Persians made war. Everything was covered, including their tactics and equipment, with the narrative of the book showing how their art of war changed and evolved over the years. So, if you are interested in the Ancient Persian art of war, then you really must get this excellent book - I am very glad that I did!

Dr. Kaveh Farrokh's SHADOWS IN THE DESERT: ANCIENT PERSIA AT WAR will please specialty collections strong in early Persian history or military history. It is unique in that it comes not from a Western perspective but from an academic of Iranian descent who has produced a nonpolitical, complete history of pre-Islamic Iran. Photos display artifacts, weapons and sites while military reconstructions blend in Islamic history and cultural heritage to make for one of the most authoritative histories of the Persian empires to see recent print: a 'must' for any serious college-level collection.