A Critical Review on the Book The Persians by Maria Brosius

Abstract

Despite the prominent place of ancient Iranian civilizations in the study of the history of the Ancient Near East, it has been overshadowed by an overwhelmingly hostile press that is embedded in the European tradition originated in Greco-Roman sources. In fact, there are few works and authors who have not been affected by this negative west-centric approach. Maria Brosius’s book “The Persians” is one of the latest works dealing with the socio-cultural achievements of three great kingdoms of Pre-Islamic Iran, i-e Achaemenids, Parthians, and Sassanians taking an unbiased approach and up-to-date sources. The present article deals with the advantages and disadvantages of this book and the form and content of it will be examined within the framework of an academic review. The result of the present study indicates that in spite of many advantages of the book such as modernity, unbiased approach, coherent structure, logical order, simple and fluid text, and good translation, it has its own weak points just like any other compilation. Among the most important disadvantages of work can be lack of some significant chapters like Elamite, Median and Seleucid empire and absence of any discernable summary or conclusion.