Steven R. Ward

Excellent book on a country that was, after Persian Empire collapse, pretty much isolated from the rest of the world by its own decision.
Always caught in the middle of struggle between East and West with highly religious population and in conflict with majority of the Arab world due to the Sunni-Shia schism Iran was more and more occupied with internal struggles (mirrored in the double security apparatus designed to keep one another in check and prevent coups and change of ruling order) and show more putting the entire country under central government control than with external expansion. It tried projecting power to the region but this never went beyond the countries neighboring Iran.

Book chronicles military history (and political of course because these two cannot go one without another) of Iran and gives the overview of events in the Iran's near vicinity through ages. Book gave me insight into things I had no prior knowledge about - the very mishmash of nations and cultures living in Iran, each trying to rule locally and be left alone by the others - very, very tribal people - and especially be left alone by the central government that, on the other hand, tries to govern the entire country and prevent brigandry and criminal elements from taking over the control of remote areas.

I found very interesting parts of the book describing interactions between Iran and its eastern neighbors (Afghanistan, Pakistan) and conflicts Iran had with Taliban movement in 2000's.
Authors conclusions at the end are also very good - both in regard of international view of Iran and foolhardiness and recklessness that seemed always to be Iran's trademark when it comes to international relations.

Very interesting book which will give you (especially if you, like me, never read about Iran's history before) plenty of information on this country, conflicts, wars and political turmoils it survived (and is still surviving) and the very nature of its very nationalistic, religious, proud and tribal people. show less

In this general survey of Persian military history, Ward takes you all the way from the classical empire of Xerxes and Darius up to the current situation with Islamic Republic of Iran. In the process Ward does find some trends, such as a tendency towards creating dueling forces as a way by the central government to keep control, with allied tendencies towards combat inefficiency. Poor resource allocation and cultural backwardness are other trends traced by Ward that are sporadically overcome show more by the valor and patience of the Persian fighting man. All in all a workmanlike book that seems to give a good overview of the subject. show less