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Sword of Persia : Nader Shah, from tribal warrior to conquering tyrant / Michael Axworthy.

By: Axworthy, MichaelMaterial type: TextTextPublication details: London ; New York : New York : I.B. Tauris ; Distributed by Palgrave Macmillan, 2006. Description: xix, 348 p. : ill., maps ; 24 cmISBN: 1850437068 (hbk.)Subject(s): Nādir Shāh, Shah of Iran, 1688-1747 | Geschichte 1736-1746 | 1500-1799 | Geschichte 1736-1746 | Generals -- Iran -- Biography | Iran -- History -- 16th-18th centuries | Iran -- Kings and rulers -- BiographyGenre/Form: History | BiographyDDC classification: 955.03092 LOC classification: DS294 | .A99 2006
Contents:
Prologue: zenith -- The fall of the safavid dynasty -- Tahmasp Qoli Khan -- War with the afghans -- War with the ottomans -- Coup d-etat -- Nader Shah -- To the gates pf delhi -- The ruin of persia -- Towers of skulls -- Full circle.
Review: "Nader Shah, ruler of Persia from 1736 to 1747, embodied ruthless ambition, energy, military brilliance, cynicism and cruelty. His reign was filled with bloodshed, betrayal and horror. Yet Nader Shah is central to Iran's early modern history. From a shepherd boy he rose to liberate his country from foreign occupation, and make himself Shah. He took eighteenth-century Iran in a trajectory from political collapse and partition to become the dominant power in the region, briefly opening the prospect of a modernising state that could have resisted colonial intervention in Asia. He recovered all the territory lost by his predecessors, including Herat and Kandahar, and went on to conquer Moghul Delhi, plundering the enormous treasures of India. Nader commanded the most powerful military force in Asia, if not the world. He repeatedly defeated the armies of Ottoman Turkey, the preeminent State of Islam, overran most of what is now Iraq and threatened to take Baghdad on several occasions. But from the zenith of his success he declined into illness, insane avarice and horrific savagery, committing terrible atrocities against the Persian people, his friends, and even his family, until he finally died as violently as he had lived." "The Sword of Persia recreates the story of a remarkable, ruthless man, capable of both charm and brutality. It is a rich narrative, full of dramatic incident, including much new research into original Iranian and other material, which will prove indispensable to historians and students."--BOOK JACKET.
Holdings
Item type Current library Call number Status Date due Barcode
Books Books The BIAA David H. French Library
Shelf 61 - Reading Room 		H2m AXWOR 26329 Not for loan BOOKS-000000026137

Prologue: zenith -- The fall of the safavid dynasty -- Tahmasp Qoli Khan -- War with the afghans -- War with the ottomans -- Coup d-etat -- Nader Shah -- To the gates pf delhi -- The ruin of persia -- Towers of skulls -- Full circle.

"Nader Shah, ruler of Persia from 1736 to 1747, embodied ruthless ambition, energy, military brilliance, cynicism and cruelty. His reign was filled with bloodshed, betrayal and horror. Yet Nader Shah is central to Iran's early modern history. From a shepherd boy he rose to liberate his country from foreign occupation, and make himself Shah. He took eighteenth-century Iran in a trajectory from political collapse and partition to become the dominant power in the region, briefly opening the prospect of a modernising state that could have resisted colonial intervention in Asia. He recovered all the territory lost by his predecessors, including Herat and Kandahar, and went on to conquer Moghul Delhi, plundering the enormous treasures of India. Nader commanded the most powerful military force in Asia, if not the world. He repeatedly defeated the armies of Ottoman Turkey, the preeminent State of Islam, overran most of what is now Iraq and threatened to take Baghdad on several occasions. But from the zenith of his success he declined into illness, insane avarice and horrific savagery, committing terrible atrocities against the Persian people, his friends, and even his family, until he finally died as violently as he had lived." "The Sword of Persia recreates the story of a remarkable, ruthless man, capable of both charm and brutality. It is a rich narrative, full of dramatic incident, including much new research into original Iranian and other material, which will prove indispensable to historians and students."--BOOK JACKET.