Empire of the Mind

"Empire of the Mind tells the story of Iranian history from the earliest times up to the present day, from before the Achaemenids through to the Islamic Republic. It highlights the uniqueness of Iranian identity as one of the oldest continuing civilisations in the world. In doing so, as well as describing political events and covering military and dynastic matters, it emphasises the role of cultural, literary, religious and intellectual movements in Iran, and the leading personalities and ideas that shaped them, in order to demonstrate the way Iran has had an influence in the Middle East and Asia (and beyond) through the power of Persianate culture rather than through conventional political and military means - an Empire of the Mind at least as much as an Empire of the Sword. The book explains the origin of some of the paradoxes of Iran, that derive from Iran's complex history of Empires (Parthian, Sassanid, Abbasid, Safavid), foreign invasions (Alexandrian, Arab, Mongol) and religious revolutions, giving due attention to minorities like the Jews (who have been present in Iran since before the beginning of the earliest human empire), Kurds, Zoroastrians, Armenians and Azeris."--Jacket.