Shahnameh: The Epic of the Persian Kings

"Readers will find much to spark their curiosity."

Hamid Rahmanian introduces the epic task he faced with this book: "Over a millennium ago, the Persian poet Ferdowsi of Tous meticulously compiled and transformed age-old mythological and epic tradition into a fifty-thousand-verse tome, Shahnameh—a literary masterpiece that remains a cornerstone of Iranian cultural heritage."

The pages that follow aren't in the traditional verse for the most part. Rahmanian decided on "prioritizing character-based narratives over events and minimizing side stories" in order to make the book more accessible. The text is certainly readable, but not for the most part compelling. The first section, devoted to mythological stories, is the least interesting, opening with a series of kings and the gifts they gave their people. A typical description of a reign might be:

"Having mastered one element, the king soon embarked on conquering water by teaching his followers how to irrigate their crops. He then pioneered the art of making bread out of harvested seeds, and trained his people to hunt wild beasts for meat and pelts and even how to domesticate animals."

Without these early kings, it seems the people would not have known how to do even the most basic of things. Through myth, credit for early human innovation is given where it belongs: to the rulers.

Later kings are more fantastical. One has snakes growing from his shoulders and needs "to shed blood to feed his serpents." These stories, however, don't have the drama of Beowulf or Gilgamesh. The historical section that follows is better, though it lacks anything close to the rich detail of Herodotus and Thucydides whose writings often feel as much like juicy gossip as history.

In general, the writing is stiff, not vivid. Words are "intoned." In one case, a king "apologized for uttering a falsehood." Cliches are all too common, as when someone else pledges the Chinese ruler to "obey and serve you from the bottom of my heart." Another king asks, "How can I stay calm while my father's murderer walks around without a care in the world?"

Still, it's fascinating to see the history of Alexander the Great defeating Darius III (here called Eksander and Dara) from the Persian point of view.

"The shore of the Euphrates shook with the blaring of horns and throbbing of drums as the Roman phalanxes crashed into the Persian ranks. Both sides fought valiantly, and the carnage did not subside for seven days."

Alexander, however, wasn't Roman. He was Macedonian, and he never ruled Rome or the territories that later formed its empire. He certainly wasn't a Caesar, as he is called in these pages. These confusions make one doubt the historical nature of that part of the book.

Still, if not accurate history, these stories provide a cultural tapestry of Iranian kingship. The Sassanian Empire, which emerges from the later kings, was an undeniable high point in Iranian history and global civilization. Readers will find much to spark their curiosity and send them looking for more recently written histories that can better provide a sense of the Persian place in the world at this time.