The Last Empire of Iran

by Michael R. Jackson Bonner

As part of the Gorgias Handbook Series, this book provides a political and military history of the Sasanian Empire in Late Antiquity (220s to 651 CE). The book takes the form of a narrative, which situates Sasanian Iran as a continental power between Rome and the world of the steppe nomad.

Genres: History, Iran, Nonfiction, Ancient History

404 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2020

About the author

Dr Michael Jackson Bonner is a Canadian political adviser and historian of Iran. A former classicist and student of James Howard-Johnston and Robert Hoyland, he read for a master's degree and doctorate in late-antique Iranian history at the University of Oxford.

Reviews

[Aroosha Dehghan · Rating 5 out of 5]

این کتاب یکی از جدیدترین‌ها درباره‌ی تاریخ ساسانیه وهدفش بررسی کل تاریخ سلسله است، اما نکته‌ی قابل توجه درباره‌ی اون، که باعث میشه با دیگر کتاب‌های مربوط به ساسانیان متمایز باشه اینه که نقش شرق رو نادیده نمی‌گیره. جکسون بانر همزمان با در نظر گرفتن منابع سریانی، رومی و... به بررسی شواهد و یافته‌های سرزمین‌های شرقی، که روشنگر ارتباط شاهان ساسانی با اون مناطقه، می‌پردازه.
کتاب زیاده‌گویی نداره اما جامعه. دسته‌بندی و روش شناسیش فوق‌العاده است. هم مخاطب عام تاریخ رو خرسند می‌کنه و هم تاریخ‌پژوه متخصص رو. نظم و انسجام متن و دقت نویسنده تحسین برانگیزه.
در یک جمله: صدر جدول پیشنهادی برای مطالعه‌ی تاریخ ساسانی این کتابه.

پ.ن:
کاش در کنار کتاب‌های دکتر دریایی، که فوق‌العاده هستند، به این کتاب هم کمی توجه می‌شد و یک آدم باهمت ترجمه‌ش می‌کرد. حیفه واقعا!
البته نه با نشرهایی مثل فرزان‌روز یا ماهی که کتاب اولبریخت و آلتهایم رو نابود کردن و نه با ترجمه‌ی امثال خشیار بهاری که معلوم نیست چرا کتاب‌ها رو سلاخی می‌کنه!

[Martin Adamian · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a solid, if old-school, military and political history; but it's not exactly my cup of tea. The author's somewhat archaicizing style helps to give the work some personality, but it gets old after a while and suffers from repetition. The most captivating parts for me, much more than the litany of battles and negotiations, were the author's often incisive discussions of Sasanian ideology and administration. The conclusion was insightful and served to redeem the book in my eyes to some extent. Readers looking for an introductory work to Sasanian history with a greater focus on culture, art, social relations, and religion might look for a different work.

[Mihovmihail55 · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent handbook on the history of the Sassanian dynasty offering a simple overview of the political and diplomatic history of the Persian (Iranian) Empire between the early third century and its conquest at the hand of the Arabs. Any student or lover of the historical discipline will surely appreciate the author's collection of sources and his critical examinations of their contents, as well as the detailed expositions on the background of the empire's neighbours and the various religious beliefs of its people.

The only problem I encountered was that when quotes were used in footnote citations of primary sources they were in the original languages (Koine Greek and Middle Persian, I assume) which can be a bit frustrating for a layman reader like me.

Stylistically there is an interesting overuse of a narrative technique in which the author will introduce a new personage by means of first stating their title, for example "a priest", and then begin a new sentence with their name, followed by (that was the priest's name) in brackets like that. I suppose it makes it feel more authentic, like an actual Iranian epic, but by the final chapters I was chuckling every time it came up.