About the Author

David Blow studied History at Cambridge and Persian at SOAS, was Assistant Director of the British Institute of Persian Studies in Tehran 1968-9 and worked for the BBC Persian Service 1969-71, broadcasting in Persian. He went on to work in publishing and for the BBC World Service, where he was correspondent in Berlin and Vienna. He is the Editor of 'Persia: Through Writer's Eyes', a collection of mainly European writings about Iran.

Reviews

This is a lively, well-written biography that is sure to keep the reader engaged strikes the right balance between the anecdotal and the analytica - Rudi Matthee, Professor of Middle Eastern History, University of Delaware. The subject of Shah Abbas is fascinating and important. Moreover the book will fill a very large gap, moving beyond an ordinary biography to reflect recent scholarship - Gene Garthwaite, Jane and Raphael Bernstein Professor, Dartmouth College