The Oxford Handbook of Iranian History Reprint Edition

academically written high level and comprehensive history of ancient and contemporary Iran

This is a outstanding book by eminent scholars in their respective fields. Some notable contributors are Prods Oktor Skjaervo, Daniel T. Potts, Kathyn Babayan and Touraj Daryaee just to mention a few. The book covers the whole history of Iran, the Iranian World, and the Persianate World in 16 chapters. It covers the Elamites, Ancient Avestan society, the Achaemenid Empire, Alexander the Great and his legacy in Iran, the Arsacid (Parthian) Empire, the Sasanian Empire, Early Islamic Iran, Medieval Iran, The Mongols in Iran, the Timurid, Safavid, Zand, Afshar, Qajar, and Pahlavi dynasties. The book ends with Modern Iran and has other useful features like a list of Iranian Dynasties, A bibliography in the end of each chapter, and maps. With few resources and books devoted to a general history of Iran and the Iranian World, this book proves itself as being invaluable to the study of Iran. A must read for Iranologists, historians in general, and the lay reader alike with a interest in this frequently overlooked culture and its contributions to World History.

Great book, I'm a middle eastern and Islamic Studies scholar as well as persian and i love this text for historical information already

This is an excellent book, with very well written chapters. Highly recommended

Overall, this looks like a very interesting book. Interesting enough that I bought it. I agree that for the most part – except see below – it's clearly written. The review that felt that it wasn't a good one volume history wasn't a problem for me, given I'm more interested in understanding the basic chronology of the Persian / Iranian interactions with their neighbors or conquerors, which I familiar with from other sources.It's also worth knowing that it's published in 2012. So though some of it might be out of date – specifically the archeological history – I was particularly impressed by the admission of absence of certainty. Either varying theories or nobody knows.So why one star? Where's the topographical map? Oxford University Press dropped the ball here. River after river. Mountain range after mountain range. No map. There are decent though minimal maps of the extent and cities within the various empires. But it would have been nice to have shaded areas of the various subdivisions (provinces) and peoples. Especially since they refer to them.Overall, a valuable addition for those of us interested in exploring the history of a complex area we only have vague knowledge of. Which is why Oxford, we need better maps!!!