I have been curious for a while now about the history of Persia, but cannot find satisfying books. I'm interested in the continuous history of Persia from antiquity to the 15th century as a civilization and geopolitical entity. An introductory book basically. Preferably written by scholars.
Any suggestions?
"Iran: Empire of the Mind" by Michael Axworthy is an excellent introduction to Iranian History, though does take history up to the modern day as well. It's quite an easy read, and Axworthy is an excellent scholar. The best thing is that the book is quite readily available on online vendors.
Daniel Elton's book "The History of Iran" is also a good read, though it is a bit more expensive.
I would also look into the Encyclopedia Iranica which is exceptional for an online resource. It is written and edited by scholars of Iranian history such as Axworthy and Elton, though it can take some getting used to in terms of navigation.
I hope this was a bit of a help!
This is a repost of some recommendations I did a while back:
For military history, I would recommend Shadows in the Desert, by Kaveh Farrokh:
http://www.amazon.com/Shadows-Desert-Ancient-General-Military/dp/1846031087
Whilst he does utilize ancient Greek Sources, he also makes it a point of referring to archaeological and pictorial evidence from Persia itself, such as the surviving bas-reliefs as Persepolis. He is also fairly balanced in that he objectively describes both the strengths and weaknesses of the Achaemenid army, especially in regards to Greece. Whilst he does advocate the idea that Indo-Europeans originated in the middle-east (which has been disproven with the confirmation that the Yamna Culture as the source of the original migration, I believe), in all other areas he is quite accurate.
Another book in relation to Persian military history is the Achaemenid Persian Army, by Duncan Head. It was published by Montvert, a company that is now out of business, so there are no copyright issues from reading it online here:
In regards to a general political, economic, legal and social examination of the empire, I would suggest Ancient Persia: A Concise History of the Achaemenid Empire, 550-330 B, by Matt Waters:
I similarly have that book and I can assure you it is incredibly informative and very well written, and makes use of a wide range of primary courses from the Iraq/Iran region rather than just relying on Greek authors.
Not an introductory book but I think this is worth reading if only because of the period covered and the historical questions it attempts to answer.
Decline and Fall of the Sasanian Empire: The Sasanian-Parthian Confederacy and the Arab Conquest of Iran by Parvaneh Pourshariati