This Handbook is a current, comprehensive single-volume history of Iranian civilization. The authors, all leaders in their fields, emphasize the large-scale continuities of Iranian history while also describing the important patterns of transformation that have characterized Iran's past. Each of the chapters focuses on a specific epoch of Iranian history and surveys the general political, social, cultural, and economic issues of that era. The ancient period begins with chapters considering the anthropological evidence of the prehistoric era, through to the early settled civilizations of the Iranian plateau, and continuing to the rise of the ancient Persian empires. The medieval section first considers the Arab-Muslim conquest of the seventh century, and then moves on to discuss the growing Turkish influence filtering in from Central Asia beginning in the tenth and eleventh centuries. The last third of the book covers Iran in the modern era by considering the rise of the Safavid state and its accompanying policy of centralization, the introduction of Shi'ism, the problems of reform and modernization in the Qajar and Pahlavi periods, and the revolution of 1978-79 and its aftermath. The book is a collaborative exercise among scholars specializing in a variety of sub-fields, and across a number of disciplines, including history, art history, classics, literature, politics, and linguistics. Here, readers can find a reliable and accessible narrative that can serve as an authoritative guide to the field of Iranian studies.

Touraj Daryaee is Howard C. Baskerville Professor in the History of Iran and the Persianate World and Associate Director of the Dr. Samuel M. Jordan Center for Persian Studies & Culture at the University of California, Irvine. His previous books include Sasanian Persia: The Rise and Fall of an Empire, winner of the British Society for Middle Eastern Studies book award.

Contributors Maps Introduction, Touraj Daryaee 1. From Paleolithic Times to the Rise of the Achaemenid Empire, Kamyar Abdi 2. The Elamites, Daniel Potts 3. Avestan Culture, Prods Oktor Skjærvø 4. The Achaemenid Empire, Alireza Shapour Shahbazi 5. Iran at the time of Alexander the Great and the Seleucids, Evangelos Venetis 6. The Arsacids, Edward Dabrowa 7. The Sasanians, Touraj Daryaee 8. Iran in the Early Islamic History, Michael G. Morony 9. Medieval Iran, Neguin Yavari 10. The Mongols in Iran, George E. Lane 11. Timurid Iran, Ali Anooshahr 12. The Safavids in Iranian History (1501-1722), Kathryn Babayan 13. The Afghan Interlude and the Zand and Afshar Dynasties (1722-1795), Kamran S. Aghaie 14. The Qajars, Ettehadieh Nezam-Mafi 15. The Pahlavi Dynasty, Afshin Matin-Asgari 16. Iran after Revolution (1979-2009), Maziar Behrooz Ruling Dynasties of Iran Index