Of all the great civilizations of the ancient world that of Persia is one of the most remarkable but least understood This is a study of the country's origins & why it collapsed so dramatically with the Arab invasions of the seventh century Josef Wiesehofer provides a comprehensive survey of the Persian Empire under the Achaeminids the Parthians & the Sassanians By focusing on the primary Persian sources
- written archaeological & numismatic evidence from Persia
- he avoids the traditional Western approach which has tended to rely so heavily on inaccurate & sometimes prejudiced Greek & Roman sources