PERSIANS

The books is a well written account of history of the great Persian Empire from the Persian perspective. Although it borrows insights from the books written by Greek historians of the day like Herodotus, it sheds light on the Persian side of it, which was distorted by the Greek authors. Each chapter delves into a different aspect of the court, may it be a Great King or the workings of his court. A good read indeed.

Excellent narration by an expert in Persian history. The writing is simple and lucid.

I purchased this book on someone’s recommendation, as I was interested in learning more about Iran and its history. Unfortunately, it fell short of my expectations. The book covers the period from the rise of the Achaemenid Empire to Alexander of Macedon’s conquest of the Persian Empire. The author goes into considerable detail about the Achaemenid Empire and its rulers, but provides relatively little on the later history of Iran. I was particularly surprised by the lack of discussion about Zoroastrianism and the persecution of its followers during later periods. This was especially disappointing given the book’s discussion of Ahura Mazda and the Achaemenid Empire, where the author clearly points out that the religion practised at the time cannot simply be identified as Zoroastrianism. Perhaps my expectations were too broad, but I was looking for a more comprehensive account of Iran’s historical and religious evolution. Overall, strictly from my perspective, the book did not provide what I was hoping to learn and ultimately felt like a waste of time.

Dr Jones is the kind of guy whose students never miss their class. This book is a smoothly flowing read packed with much information presented well relating to the Achemenid kings, as well as Persian life, customs, etc. Think Tacitus, Suetonius and Juvenal in one book. He also adds topics both humorous and eye brow raising to keep the whole enterprise interesting. You will read the book and learn far more than you think by the time you're done, culturally, historically, linguistically and religiously. I noticed Jones had Belshazzar dying in Opis outside Babylon, and not in Babylon as the book of Daniel states. There was another discussion regarding the Jerusalem temple with which the dating was unique and later than any source Ive read. That being said, this book does a great job of highlighting Persia as well as other nations in the 6th to 4th centuries BC, and is very well written.

ZEER WEINIG ILLUSTRATIES

Having recently immersed myself in the history of ancient Greece and Macedonia, I wanted to balance my knowledge and understanding somewhat with a look at the same time periods, but through the eyes of the Persians with whom were so often in conflict. This book has helped me to do so. It is clear where the author's sympathies lie, especially towards the end of the book, where Darius III's military decisions are lauded, even although they led to crushing defeat at the hands of Alexander - who notably is referred to in this book as 'the Macedonian' rather than the more usual 'Great' The destruction of Persepolis alone is enough to strip him of the imprimatur 'Great' not to mention his probable complicity in the murder of his father Phillip II of Macedonia - oh, and the millions of lives lost as a direct result of his vaulting ambition However, back to the book. The writing style is fluent, and despite the huge amount of information contained in these pages, highly readable. The book does indeed go some way to towards balancing the pro Hellenic view of history taken by western writers over the millennia and it makes for thought provoking and enjoyable as well as informative reading. I found the final chapter which explores the place of the Achaemenids Kings in modern Iranian culture to be thoughtful and carefully considered about where the future of Iran may lead. Highly recommended if you want to be entertained as well as informed of n rather different view of the conflicts between Persia and the West

das Englisch ist gut lesbar, der Autor schreibt gut verständlich und informativ

この本の著者によれば、古代ペルシャでは歴代国王を褒め称えたり戦勝を記念する顕彰碑などは建立されたが、年代記などの公式記録がなかったため今日までに書かれた多くのペルシャ史は敵対する古代ギリシャ人の見聞や伝聞記録を基に記述されたものが多く、ペルシャ人を野蛮の民と決めつけるなど歪められたペルシャ史観がベースになっているという。 著者は「ギリシャ語」ではなくペルシャが遺した遺跡の発掘や碑文の楔形文字の解読で得た「ペルシャ語の記録」などの情報を最大限取り込むなどより公平な視点で古代ペルシャ王国の歴史を解き明かすべく本書を上梓したと記している。 この本では、イラン平原にペルシャ人が移住した紀元前約1000年からアレキサンダー大王に滅ぼされた紀元前330年までのペルシャの歴史について書いている。遊牧民のペルシャ人が初めて歴史上の記録に登場するのはアッシリアのシャルマネセル三世の統治時代で紀元前9世紀の後半だという。中近東からヨーロッパとアジアに跨る大帝国の栄枯盛衰を辿る本格歴史書で本文ざっと500頁の大著。労作なので星五つと評価したが、古代史の歴史書には蘊蓄や冗長さが付き物という割り切りが必要。前半はやや退屈な記述が多いが後半は尻上がりに面白くなる。終章では第二次世界大戦後のイランの王政復古などの歩みにも触れ、パーレビ国王の亡命を受けての原理主義的イスラム教への回帰にもかかわらずイラン・イラク戦争で多くの成人人口を失った後の人口構成の変化で平均年齢が40歳と若年化が進み作今は自由を求める若者の宗教離れが進み抑圧的な体制への不満が募っているという。 余談だが、その昔ペルシャのキュロス二世(Cyrus II)はバビロニア征服の後、「バビロンの捕囚」(バビロンに強制移住させられたユダヤの民)にエルサレムへの帰還を認めバビロニアが略奪して持ち帰った神殿の宝物などを返還して再興を支援するなど寛大な施しをしたことでヘブライ人から「救世主(Messiah)」と崇められたのに、今日のペルシャの末裔のイランとユダヤ人の末裔のイスラエルが不倶戴天の敵対関係にあるのは歴史の皮肉というべきか。