Now in paperback, this is a history of an incomparable culture whose influence can still be seen, millennia later, in modern-day Iran and the wider Middle East.
And the authors paint vivid portraits of Persian cities and their spectacular achievements: intricate and far-reaching roadways, an astonishing irrigation system that created desert paradises, and, above all, an extraordinary reflection of the diverse peoples that inhabited them..
Extending their influence into the maritime west, they fought the Greeks for mastery of the eastern Mediterranean--one of the most significant geopolitical contests of the ancient world.
They examine the environmental difficulties the early Persians encountered and how, in overcoming them, they were able to develop a unique culture that would culminate in the massive, first empire, the Achaemenid Empire.
The authors examine the unique features of Persian life and trace their influence throughout the centuries.
In this book, Geoffrey and Brenda Parker tell the captivating story of this ancient civilization and its enduring legacy to the world.
From these modest and uncertain beginnings, they would go on to form one of the most powerful empires in history: the Persian Empire.
One group of these people would find themselves encamped in an unpromising, arid region just south of the Caspian Sea.
During the first and second millennia BCE a swathe of nomadic peoples migrated outward from Central Asia into the Eurasian periphery.
Now in paperback, this is a history of an incomparable culture whose influence can still be seen, millennia later, in modern-day Iran and the wider Middle East
