Julie Scott Meisami is Lecturer in Persian atThe Oriental Institute, Oxford.
This is a highly praiseworthy undertaking that presents the first monograph ever exclusively dedicated to a comparative study of a wide range of Persian historical writing. Meisami is out to set the record straight, and the result is the most original and scholarly contribution to our knowledge of the formative years of this rich and vibrant field of Persian literature. [Meisami is] particularly well equipped to approach Persian historical sources from a fresh angle; one that is less concerned with the reliable information' they might contain, more with why and how they were written! she has opened up many lines of inquiry, and her book comes at the right moment to influence a slowly growing body of scholarship that is seeking to understand what Persian historians regarded as meaningful and why they saw some 'events' as memorable rather than others. Until now there has never been a substantial, detailed attempt to give a comprehensive appraisal of this literature as a whole. .. In this ground-breaking work, Julie Meisami attempts to set the record straight and put 'Persian historical writing back on the map of Islamic historiography. This is a highly praiseworthy undertaking that presents the first monograph ever exclusively dedicated to a comparative study of a wide range of Persian historical writing. Meisami is out to set the record straight, and the result is the most original and scholarly contribution to our knowledge of the formative years of this rich and vibrant field of Persian literature. [Meisami is] particularly well equipped to approach Persian historical sources from a fresh angle; one that is less concerned with the reliable information' they might contain, more with why and how they were written! she has opened up many lines of inquiry, and her book comes at the right moment to influence a slowly growing body of scholarship that is seeking to understand what Persian historians regarded as meaningful and why they saw some 'events' as memorable rather than others. Until now there has never been a substantial, detailed attempt to give a comprehensive appraisal of this literature as a whole. .. In this ground-breaking work, Julie Meisami attempts to set the record straight and put 'Persian historical writing back on the map of Islamic historiography.
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