PERSIANS: The Age of The Great Kings

Billed by the publisher as 'A definitive new history of the Persian Empire, the world's first superpower.' The Great Kings of Persia ruled over the largest Empire of antiquity stretching from Libya to the Steppes of Asia, and from Ethiopia to Pakistan. At the heart of the Empire was the fabled palace-city of Persepolis where the Acheamenid monarchs held court in unparalleled grandeur. From here Cyrus the Great, Darius, Xerxes and their heirs passed laws, raised armies and governed their multi-cultural Empire. Yet they were one of the great dysfunctional families of history. Brothers fought brothers for power, wives and concubines plotted to promote their sons to the throne, and eunuchs and courtiers vied for influence and prestige. Filled with colour, brilliance and complexity, it is a gripping account of ancient Persia, tracking how a small tribal society in southwestern Iran came to be the world's first superpower. The book spotlights not just the royal dynasty but the ambitious courtiers, wily Egyptian administrator, a Greek slave girl enmeshed in a great power game, and the tightly run society with its acute sense of its place within the cosmos, where devotion to the Truth could coexist with cruelty and violence, and imperialism with cultural and religious tolerance. 432pp, paperback with 22 colour plates, 20 line drawings, map and family dynasty.