Sign-In
Cart
THE HISTORY OF PERSIA - From Cyrus the Great to the Islamic Republic
Paperback
Ancient History GeneralIran History
Currently unavailable to order
Please enter your email and a message will be sent to you when this product becomes available on our website.
Publisher: Independently Published
Published: Jan 3 2026
Pages: 518
Weight: 2.62
Height: 1.04 Width: 8.50 Depth: 11.00
Language: English
From the moment Cyrus the Great stepped out of the hill country of Fars to the contested elections and nuclear negotiations of the Islamic Republic, the land we call Persia/Iran has stood at the crossroads of empires, faiths, and ideas. This sweeping, single-volume history follows that story from the first experiments in empire on the Iranian plateau to the turbulent politics of the twenty-first century.
THE HISTORY OF PERSIA - From Cyrus the Great to the Islamic Republic traces over 2,500 years of transformation without losing sight of continuity. It begins before Persia properly exists, with Elam, Media, and the ecology of the plateau; follows the rise of the Achaemenid Empire, the challenge of Greece, and the reconstruction of imperial Iran under the Sasanians; then explores the long Islamic Persianate age of courts, scholars, and Sufi mystics, before turning to Safavids, Qajars, Pahlavi monarchs, and the making of modern Iran.
Instead of offering a narrow political chronicle, this volume weaves together statecraft, religion, society, and culture. It examines how Zoroastrian fire temples and Shi'ite shrines, caravan cities and bazaars, nomads and bureaucrats, poets and oil engineers all played their part in shaping a durable Iranian world. Dynasties fall and ideologies change, but the book insists on the deeper patterns: the management of frontiers, the negotiation between center and periphery, the repeated confrontation with foreign intervention, and the constant argument over justice, law, and legitimate authority.
Designed as a robust but accessible work of narrative history, this volume is organized into seven Parts, from the Dawn of Empires through The Achaemenid Age, The Sasanian Empire, the Islamic Persianate world, Early Modern Shi'ite Iran, and finally Modern Iran: From Monarchy to Islamic Republic. Each subchapter is a self-contained essay, allowing the reader to move confidently from Persepolis to Isfahan, from the Constitutional Revolution to 1979 and the Iran-Iraq War, without losing the larger arc.
Whether you come to this book through an interest in the Ancient Near East, Islamic history, Middle Eastern politics, or global empire and revolution, it offers a coherent, continuous account that treats Persia/Iran not as a series of disconnected episodes, but as a long, evolving conversation between land, power, and belief.
Highlights of this volume:
Full-span narrative from Elam and Media to the Islamic Republic, in a single, integrated volume
Achaemenids to Sasanians: empire-building, administration, ideology, and encounters with Greece and Rome
The Islamic Persianate commonwealth: New Persian, court culture, theology, and the making of a transregional world
Safavid Shi'ism, Ottoman rivalry, and the architecture of an early modern Shi'ite state
Qajar Iran, the Great Game, concessions, and the Constitutional Revolution (1905-1911)
Pahlavi modernization, oil, nationalism, the 1953 coup, and the road to 1979
Revolution, war, and republic: Islamic institutions, the Iran-Iraq War, reform and conservatism, and Iran in the 21st century
A closing reflection on Persia's long memory, exploring continuity beneath repeated regime change
Also in
Iran History
King of Kings: The Iranian Revolution: A Story of Hubris, Delusion and Catastrophic Miscalculation
Anderson, Scott
Hardcover
Going to Tehran: Why America Must Accept the Islamic Republic of Iran
Leverett, Flynt
Leverett, Hillary Mann
Paperback
For the Sun After Long Nights: The Story of Iran's Women-Led Uprising
Jamalpour, Fatemeh
Tabrizy, Nilo
Hardcover
Food of Life: Ancient Persian and Modern Iranian Cooking and Ceremonies
Batmanglij, Najmieh
Hardcover
King of Kings: The Iranian Revolution: A Story of Hubris, Delusion and Catastrophic Miscalculation
Anderson, Scott
Paperback
The First Clash: The Miraculous Greek Victory at Marathon and Its Impact on Western Civilization
Lacey, James
Paperback
Patriot of Persia: Muhammad Mossadegh and a Tragic Anglo-American Coup
De Bellaigue, Christopher
Paperback
King of Kings: The Iranian Revolution: A Story of Hubris, Delusion and Catastrophic Miscalculation (Large Print Edition)
Anderson, Scott
Paperback
Guests of the Ayatollah: The Iran Hostage Crisis: The First Battle in America's War with Militant Islam
Bowden, Mark
Paperback
How Sanctions Work: Iran and the Impact of Economic Warfare
Bajoghli, Narges
Nasr, Vali
Salehi-Isfahani, Djavad
Paperback
Target Tehran: How Mossad Is Using Sabotage, Cyberwarfare, Assassination - And Secret Diplomacy - To Realign the Middle East
Bob, Yonah Jeremy
Evyatar, Ilan
Paperback
Zoroastrianism: The Complete Guide on The Ancient Persian Religion of Mazdayasna and Zoroastrianism.
Hakimi, Ali
Paperback
Night of the Assassins: The Untold Story of Hitler's Plot to Kill Fdr, Churchill, and Stalin
Blum, Howard
Paperback
Killing the Witches: The Horror of Salem, Massachusetts (Large Print Edition)
O'Reilly, Bill
Dugard, Martin
Paperback
The Scythian Empire: Central Eurasia and the Birth of the Classical Age from Persia to China
Beckwith, Christopher I.
Paperback
An American Martyr in Persia: The Epic Life and Tragic Death of Howard Baskerville
Aslan, Reza
Paperback
The Harmless Necessary Cat - A World War II Family Saga in Allied-Occupied Iran
Haddad, Sepehr
Paperback
Wars of Ambition: The United States, Iran, and the Struggle for the Middle East
Ostovar, Afshon
Hardcover
Dutch-Persian Encounters: Merchants, Diplomats, Engineers, and Cultural Brokers, 1850-1920
Floor, Willem
Sajadi, Forough
Hardcover
Colorblind: Racial Thinking and Cultural Production in Modern Iran and the Diaspora
Motlagh, Amy
Paperback
At the Court of the Shah: A Portuguese Account of Safavid Persia, 1603-1608
de Gouvea, Antonio
Hardcover
Companions of the Sun: History and Mystery of Iranian Dance, Music & Ritual
Berenji Phd, Farima
Paperback
History of Persia: An Enthralling Guide to the Rise and Fall of the Persian Empire and the Life of Cyrus the Great
Wellman, Billy
Hardcover
Belonging on Both Shores: Mobility, Migration, and the Bordering of the Persian Gulf
Stephenson, Lindsey R.
Hardcover
The Economic Modernisation of Iran, 1953-1968: Architects, Agents, and Unwitting Thwarters
Rahnema, Ali
Hardcover
Accelerant: Energy Infrastructures and the Natural World in Making Modern Iran
Movahedi-Lankarani, Ciruce A.
Paperback
Heartstrings of the Khyber: A Collection of Pashto Folktales
Salman, Komal
Laila, Shaherzaad
Paperback
Blind Owl: Authorized by the Sadegh Hedayat Foundation - First Translation Into English Based on the Bombay Edition
Hedayat, Sadegh
Hardcover
Tanker War in the Gulf: Operation Earnest Will, Diplomacy and Seapower in Practice
Duffy, Tom
Hardcover
Iran, Israel, and the Middle East Explained: Religion, Power, and the Roots of War
Kavan, Levi D.
Paperback
Crowning Anguish: Memoirs of a Persian Princess from the Harem to Modernity, 1884-1914
Taj Al-Saltaneh
Paperback
The Political History of Modern Iran: Revolution, Reaction and Transformation, 1905 to the Present
Rahnema, Ali
Paperback
Senses of Mourning: Moharram Performances in Shiʿi Iran from the Qajar to the Covid Era
Rahimi, Babak
Hardcover
Arabs, Turks, and Persians: Geopolitics and Ideology in the Greater Middle East
Cornell, Svante E.
Paperback
Iranian Exiles and Stalin's Great Terror: State Violence in the 1930s Soviet Union
Atabaki, Touraj
Ravandi-Fadai, Lana
Hardcover
Capitalism in Contemporary Iran: Capital Accumulation, State Formation and Geopolitics
Valadbaygi, Kayhan
Paperback
The Parthian Empire: The Rise and Fall of Rome's Eastern Rival, the Arsacid Dynasty, and the Roman-Parthian Wars
Corwin, Samuel
Paperback
Sasanian Empire: A Captivating Guide to the Neo-Persian Empire that Ruled Before the Arab Conquest of Persia and the Rise of Islam
History, Captivating
Hardcover
America vs Iran: How Trump, Oil, Israel and 70 Years of Betrayal Led to War
Alive, History Brought
Hardcover
The Promise of Violence: Collective Memory and the Making of Revolutionaries in Iran
Saramifar, Younes
Hardcover
The Persians: An Enthralling Guide to the History of Persia and the Persian Empire
Wellman, Billy
Hardcover
Colorblind: Racial Thinking and Cultural Production in Modern Iran and the Diaspora
Motlagh, Amy
Hardcover
The Lion and the Sun: Environmental History and the Formation of Modern Iran.
Gustafson, James M.
Hardcover
The Zurkhāneh and Its Milieu: A Study of Traditional Athletics in Iran
Rochard, Philippe
Paperback
Imperial Iran in the Eighteenth Century: Identity and State Formation Under Nader
Parsa, Mohammad Amir Hakimi
Hardcover
Decline and Fall of the Sasanian Empire: The Sasanian-Parthian Confederacy and the Arab Conquest of Iran
Pourshariati, Parvaneh
Paperback
The Fate of Third Worldism in the Middle East: Iran, Palestine and Beyond
Haugbolle, Sune
Elling, Rasmus C.
Hardcover
The Sasanian Empire: The Rise and Fall of Ancient Persia's Last Great Dynasty
Corwin, Samuel
Paperback
The Emergence of Iranian Nationalism: Race and the Politics of Dislocation
Zia-Ebrahimi, Reza
Paperback
Armies of Ancient Persia: From its Founding under the the Achaemenids to the Fall of the Sassanid Empire
Wozniak, Marek Adam
Paperback
Spiritual Messages from the Guardian Spirit of Ayatollah Khamenei and General Soleimani
Okawa, Ryuho
Paperback
The Rise of Iran's Revolutionary Guards' Financial Empire: How the Supreme Leader and the IRGC Rob the People to Fund International Terror
Us, Ncri-
U. S. Representative Office, Ncri-
Iran, National Council of Resistance of
Hardcover
Iranische Geschichte: Ein spannender Leitfaden durch das alte Persien und die Vergangenheit des Iran
Wellman, Billy
Hardcover
The Armenian Woman, Minoritarian Agency, and the Making of Iranian Modernity, 1860-1979
Berberian, Houri
Grigor, Talinn
Hardcover
Nuclear Discourse and State Legitimacy in Iran: How Iran Leverages Its Nuclear Program to Secure Domestic Support
Nourani, Hossein
Hardcover
Iran's Shadow Weapons: Covert Action, Intelligence Operations and Unconventional Warfare
Hackett, Jonathan W.
Paperback
Beneath The Red Line: Iran, Israel, and the Rise of a New Lethal Front (Large Print Edition)
Chowdhury, Fazle
Hardcover
A Safavid Armenian Monument: Architectural Hybridity at the Vank Cathedral in Isfahan
Yengimolki, Ahmad
Hardcover
Accelerant: Energy Infrastructures and the Natural World in Making Modern Iran
Movahedi-Lankarani, Ciruce A.
Hardcover
Nationalising Oil and Knowledge in Iran: Labour, Decolonisation and Colonial Modernity, 1933-51
Biglari, Mattin
Hardcover
Diplomatic Terrorism: Anatomy of Iran's State Terror
National Council of Resistance of Iran
Paperback