Decline and Fall of the Sasanian Empire: The Sasanian-Parthian Confederacy and the Arab Conquest of Iran (International Library of Iranian Studies) Paperback – March 30, 2017

Just as today one delineates the history of the Sassanian Era to pre-Christensen and post-Christensen, for generations to come scholars of this era will talk about pre-Pourshariati and post-Pourshariati. This book convincingly turns 14 centuries of scholarship on its head. The question of the legitimacy of the standard narrative is put to rest: It did not happen. One may debate whether the story unfolded as the author insinuates, but one can’t argue with the proposition that a new narrative is needed. The book is very well-referenced and provides a great jumping off point for those who wish to dig deeper into the study of this subject. In short, this was an amazing intellectual roller coaster ride that challenged what I thought I knew to its core. A tour de force I have rarely encountered recently. I’m fortunate to have been introduced to the work.I truly hope that I.B. Taurus has hired competent editors. While this book’s editorial output was not criminal, like that of “Sasanian Persia” by Daryaee, it still suffers from glaring shortcomings. E.g., the index says “Circle of Justice” appears inter alia at p. 59. I could not confirm that. It is unclear to me why certain passages from, for instance the Shahnama or other sources, where described in the text, were transliterated, AND were printed in Farsi in the footnotes, whereas other passages didn’t receive the same treatment. The name of a king mentioned twice in a paragraph is followed by the years of his regency in parentheses but another king mentioned in the same paragraph is missing his years. The author is not expected to get into these details; that’s the editor’s job.

It's a good book, though I believe the reasons for the Arab conquests are a bit of a stretch, though the worst thing about this is that it's boring and full of academic jargon.

Excellent detailed scholarly work. Most works of the Late Persians billed as scholarly works are mere overviews of the subject often badly footnoted. The author does not fall into that trap. The book is divided into to parts. The first part conducts a detailed study of the seven Parthian noble family's that made up the Sasanian Empire and how they interacted.The second part deals with the Arab conquest. This is the most contraversal part of the book. The author looks at the Arab timeline as it is imposed on the Western calendar and concludes the conquest took place a number of years before the traditional view point. I am still reading part two.Unlike previous books on the subject it is heavy scholarly reading. Since I read the footnotes as I read the text it took me a month to read the book. Footnotes are conveniently at the bottom on the page.The only negative aspect of the book are it lack of maps. Most of the books written on this subject are Persian and seem to assume the reader is Persian and knows terrain (roads,mountain passes etc) and the importance of the various city and region locations. The one map supporting this book shows the location of the cities mentioned in the text, but no terrain features.Bottom Line: Well written, researched with arguments will supported. A little on the pricey side but if you look around you can find it at half it's listed price. But compared to it competitors it is worth paying full price.

The book is well written and the resources used are plenty. As a casual reader not a pro historian I learned a lot from this book. The writer has done an excellent job. Need more books on Iranian history pre & post Islamic invasion as resources are limited! Thank you Ms. Pourshariati for the great book.

As stated in the Editorial Book Reviews, this book proposes to rewrite the details of the history of the Arab conquest of Iran. The author has taken a very detailed look at all the information available for the era, including recently published coin and seal data. Based on this she, identifies lineage, names and durations of the Kings/Queens, primary advisors and generals of the Sassanian empire immediately prior to and during the Arab conquest.From this she then correlates the timing and leadership with the Arab records of the conquest. This results in a significant change in the dates of the early battles, which has implications for early Islamic history (which the book does not address).The book is well written and very well referenced. It provides the first clear look at a previously very unclear time in Persian history.I am certain that people will argue about the logic and accuracy of the work as there is a large amount of new conclusions and understandings. To my reading the book makes sense and overall makes a fairly compelling case. I however am not a historian.

Interesting aproach to the issue,based in part on new evidences available or on reinterpreting the classical sources. A fresh and daring point of view but too speculative in some moments. Overall , a good book which raises new and interesting questions about Sasanian history not failing to also provide the "right" answers. Solid fundaments need to be acquired before proceeding with this book.

I can’t think of another author who was able to introduce a novice reader to an obscure and complex topic, with such clarity and precision. This may seem like a remote academic debate fit only for specialists, but the author has a gift that allows her to draw in any interested amateur.

I have nothing specific to add that is not already said by other reviews but seriously this is a damn impressive piece of academia

Awesome revisionist view of easter late antiquity and early medieval period which is provided based newly discovered evidences and sources

this is a massive work that is well documented and impressively detailed. the thing I appreciate the most is all the background information that is given. a very good history book, on one of the empires that for the most part has been unfortunately neglected. I couldn't find any other book with this magnitude on the Sassanian Empire. love it

A very well written and researched and balanced book, especially considering the dearth of data from those times. Sadly, only covers the final years, as the title itself suggests.

Zugegeben als Nicht-Historiker ist es Anfangs mühsam durch das Buch zu arbeiten. Vorallem stoßen meine Englischkenntnisse hier und da an seine Grenzen. Aber das Buch ist es allemal Wert, sich damit auseinander zu setzen. Es geht sehr detailiert auf die Innen- und außenpolitische Situation der Sasaniden_Ära ein.Genial finde ich die Enteilung der Abschnitte, die den Übefall der Araber ( des Islams) auf Iran punkt für Punkt aufarbeitet.Kann ich jedem empfhelen der an der Spätantike interessiert ist.Ich liebe das Buch

Ce livre répond bien aux attentes de ceux qui suhaitent disposer d'une vue synthétique des recherches récentes sur un sujet traité le plus souvent sous des points de vues très limités, dans des monographies parfois difficiles d'accès. Il témoigne d'une grande connaissance du sujet et d'un talent d'exposition indéniable de l'auteur.