Persians: The Age of the Great Kings [Hardcover]

A stunning portrait of the magnificent splendor of ancient Persia and its enduring legacies for today's Iran.

A brilliant feat of resurrection. -Tom Holland, author ofDominion

The Achaemenid Persian kings ruled over the largest empire of antiquity, stretching from Libya to the steppes of Asia and from Ethiopia to Pakistan. From the palace-city of Persepolis, Cyrus the Great, Darius, Xerxes, and their heirs reigned supreme for centuries until the conquests of Alexander of Macedon brought the empire to a swift and unexpected end in the late 330s BCE.

InPersians, historian Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones tells the epic story of this dynasty and the world it ruled. Drawing on Iranian inscriptions, cuneiform tablets, art, and archaeology, he shows how the Achaemenid Persian Empire was the worlds first superpowerone built, despite its imperial ambition, on cooperation and tolerance.

This is the definitive history of the Achaemenid dynasty and its legacies in modern-day Iran, a book that completely reshapes our understanding of the ancient world.

Lloyd Llewellyn-Jonesholds the chair in ancient history at Cardiff University and is the former director of the Ancient Iran Program for the British Institute of Persian Studies. Cohost of theBiblical Time Machinepodcast, he is the author ofThe CleopatrasandBabylonand lives in Taffs Well, Wales.

“In his effort to give ‘ear to a genuine ancient Persian voice,’ Llewellyn-Jones synthesizes what can be gleaned from artifacts, inscriptions and fragmentary accounts… The dead, Llewellyn-Jones argues convincingly, have been snubbed long enough.”Wall Street Journal“A gripping and more Persian-centric story…Llewellyn-Jones is very good at righting the record.”Sunday Times“A really interesting book ... You see how the history recounted through the original referencels+