The Persian Empire

A Captivating Guide to the History of Persia, Starting from the Ancient Achaemenid, Parthian, and Sassanian Empires to the Safavid, Afsharid, and Qajar Dynasties

By: Captivating History

Narrated by: Desmond Manny

Length: 3 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

Explore the Captivating History of the Persian Empire!

One of the most shocking things about the Persians is how quickly they went from an obscure, powerless, and nomadic tribe to an immense empire that spanned across western Asia, Africa, and parts of Europe. The rise of Cyrus the great, considered the father of Persia, in the seventh century BCE, filled the power vacuum caused by the fall of the Assyrians, and it led to the formation of one of the most powerful empires of the ancient world.

The Persians have made significant contributions to world culture, ranging from their ability to raise and train one of the ancient world’s most formidable fighting forces, the Persian Immortals, to their new and effective ways of organizing and administering government. And Persian art heavily influenced their Muslim invaders, helping to usher in the Islamic Golden age that helped spread Islam throughout the Middle East and Africa.

In The Persian Empire: A Captivating Guide to the History of Persia, Starting from the Ancient Achaemenid, Parthian, and Sassanian Empires to the Safavid, Afsharid, and Qajar Dynasties, you will discover topics such as:

• Who are the Persians? The history of human population in Iran
• The birth of the Achaemenid Empire: the rise and reign of Cyrus the Great
• The glory of the Achaemenid Empire: Cambyses and Darius
• The beginning of the end: the Reign of Xerxes and the downfall of the Achaemenid Dynasty
• Life in ancient Persia
• The Persian military
• Zoroastrianism: Persia’s religion
• Later Persian dynasties: the Parthian Empire to the Qajar Dynasty
• Persian art: mixing East and West
• Persian contributions to science and technology
• And much, much more!

©2018 Captivating History (P)2019 Captivating History

not exactly riveting

The audio quality and clarity of the narration are very good, but calling the content captivating is a stretch

My first audible, I love history

One of the first thing a reader picks up is how sparse good information is regarding the ancient Persian Empire. The Achaemenid Empire (a name derived to establish legitimacy of the dynasty) was the major power on the planet at that time--only to be overthrown by Alexander the Great and his Macedonian led forces.

Ancient Persia by Captivating History

The book "A Captivating Guide to the History of Persia" is a scholarly work which is well-researched and well-written. It is scrupulously objective. It is a concise history of the Persian Empire, the first world empire established by Cyrus the Great and which lasted for 220 years. Because of its unique geopolitical location Iran has been attacked many times by different tribes and armies.

An excellent overview

This is an excellent overview of "The Persian Empire". It is well written, concise and highly readable. The author uses written sources as well as the results of archeological studies. He clearly points out areas of controversy and presents all sides, not just relying on a single source, such as Herodotus.

Persian People

The book summarizes work done by others - and manages to do that well. Original findings or approaches would have made a higher score.

Fantastic history!

Great book that anyone interested in understanding our current political challenges should read/listen to.
But the narrator! Far from good enough. A narrator should get better familiar with the names and some of the key foreign words, else it is very disturbing; As it is in this audio book. I hope that a new edition can be sent out soon when the narrator has educated himself.
Then I will give this book as a good present to many people I care about.

Good book

If you like to read about Persian history, this is a good book to read. I have a couple other books about Persia & this fits right in with them. It's a good historical read.

Good audible.

It seems this book was written from Iranian perspective and not from Greek prespective. As a result, all Iranian should buy this particular book, and self educate themselves with regard to their history.

Given as a gift and was great one.

Captivating History is a great story teller! I am following it for a long time and always happy to receive their books.

Old But Still Kicking

While I'm sure that the information in "The History of the Persian Empire" must have been superseded to a degree in the 50 years since it has been published, and it is likely that the author may have been overly sure of facts, this book is a pleasure to read and a mine of cultural food for thought. I fear the reviewer above who managed to finish the book knowing next to nothing about ancient Persia is saying more about herself than this book.