Shahnameh : the Persian book of kings
(Book)

Includes index.

Translated from the Persian.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Among the great works of world literature, perhaps one of the least familiar to English readers is the Shahnameh, the national epic of Persia. This prodigious narrative, composed by the poet Ferdowsi between the years 980 and 1010, tells the story of pre-Islamic Iran, beginning in the mythic time of Creation and continuing forward to the Arab invasion in the seventh century. As a window on the world, Shahnameh belongs in the company of such literary masterpieces as Dante's Divine Comedy, the plays of Shakespeare, the epics of Homer--classics whose reach and range bring whole cultures into view. In its pages are unforgettable moments of national triumph and failure, human courage and cruelty, blissful love and bitter grief. Now Dick Davis, the greatest modern translator of Persian poetry, has revisited that poem, turning the finest stories of Ferdowsi's original into an elegant combination of prose and verse.

Originally published in three volumes:,Washington, DC : Mage Publishers, c2000-2005,,under the titles:,Fathers and Sons; Sunset of Empire ; and, The Lion and the Throne .

Originally published:,New York : Viking Penguin, 2006.

In English, translated from Persian.