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Reviews: ‘The best biography of the year, Axworthy’s The Sword of Persia has rescued Nader Shah from obscurity and created not only a brilliant human portrait of tyranny, conquest, cruelty and insanity but also a superb introduction to Iran itself’
Simon Sebag Montefiore
‘a very successful [biography]. Michael Axworthy knows his Persia...and he writes well: this is an excellent story, very ably told.’
David Morgan, Times Literary Supplement
This is, without doubt, a valuable book. Axworthy gives a fascinating picture of Iran in the eighteen century and provides a key to a better understanding of many of the issues after Nader Shah relating to the Zand and Qajar eras."
- Professor Sadegh Zibakalam, Tehran University
Description: Nader Shah, ruler of Persia from 1736 to 1747, embodied ruthless ambition, energy, military brilliance, cynicism and cruelty. His reign was filled with bloodshed, betrayal and horror. Yet Nader Shah is central to Iran’s early modern history.
From a shepherd boy he rose to liberate his country from foreign occupation, and make himself Shah. He took eighteenth-century Iran in a trajectory from political collapse and partition to become the dominant power in the region. He recovered all the territory lost by his predecessors, including Herat and Kandahar, and went on to conquer Moghul Delhi, plundering the enormous treasures of India. Nader commanded the most powerful military force in Asia, if not the world. He repeatedly defeated the armies of Ottoman Turkey, overran most of what is now Iraq and threatened to take Baghadad on several occasions. But from the zenith of his success he declined into mental illness, which produced in him insane avarice and horrific savagery, committing terrible atrocities against the Persian people, his friends, and even his family, until finally he died as violently as he had lived.
The Sword of Persia recreates the story of a remarkable, ruthless man, capable of both charm and brutality. It is a rich narrative, full of dramatic incident, including much new research into original Iranian and other material, which will prove indispensable to historians and students alike.
Contents: Zenith • The Fall of the Safavid Dynasty • Tahmasp Qoli Khan • War with the Afghans • War with the Ottomans • Coup d’Ètat • Nader Shah • To the Gates of Delhi • The Ruin of Persia • Towers of Skulls • Full Circle • IndexISBN - 9781845119829
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Pages : 368
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