The Persian Empire
by Lindsay Allen
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Book Summary Information
Author: Lindsay AllenEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2005-12-20
ISBN: 0226014479
Number of pages: 224
Publisher: University Of Chicago Press
Book Reviews of The Persian Empire
Book Review: "Textbook-ish"
Summary: 4 Stars
Lindsay Allen's book offers an illustrated overview of the Persian Empire, in connection with a recent British Museum exhibit. While university-level students and professionals are sure to get a lot out of it, I'm not sure that it would be a first choice for the general reader. The author's writing style is rather academic, and she is very cautious in drawing conclusions from the available evidence. She would like to treat the numerous Greek accounts skeptically, and rely more on a Persian-centric view of events, but the ancient records are unavoidably skewed towards the Greek point of view, which kind of frustrates her program. This is all quite appropriate in a scholarly book, but seems less likely to inspire a wider audience.
There did not seem to be any explicit linkages from the book to the museum exhibit; no doubt many of the objects illustrated in the book were also exhibited, but there would be no way of knowing this just from reading the book.
Readers may also want to know that the book's focus is on the political history of the Achaemenid Dynasty, from Cyrus to Alexander. There are some references to Achaemenid art and religion, but culture is not a primary emphasis of the book. As one who is very interested in ancient Egypt, though, I did appreciate the book's inclusion of several examples that illustrate the incorporation of Egyptian themes into the art of the Persian empire following on Cambyses' conquest of Egypt in 526 BC. [erratum: on p.35, the Apis bull dedication to Cambyses is 524 BC, not 324 BC as in the text].
In summary, and despite the book's marketing, I think it will mostly appeal to students and specialists in the history of the Ancient Near East (four stars), rather than to general readers (three stars).
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