""The best biography of the year, Axworthy's The Sword of Persia has rescued Nader Shah from obscurity and created not only a brilliant human portrait of tyranny, conquest, cruelty and insanity but also a superb introduction to Iran itself which makes this book not just a beautifully-written compelling work but one that is also utterly relevant today.""--Simon Sebag Montefiore ""a very successful [biography].  Michael Axworthy knows his Persia.and he writes well: this is an excellent story, very ably told.""--David Morgan, Times Literary Supplement ""Michael Axworthy has done an outstanding job of trying to understand what moved Nadir.the result is a book that is informative and a pleasure to read, for specialists and non-specialists alike. Thanks to the author's deft handling of the subject, Nadir as a person becomes real and his actions become understandable.well researched.

this a great book and an excellent read that you can even take to the beach.""--Willem Floor, Middle East Journal ""both scholarly and highly readable from start to finish.valuable for both specialists and graduate students of history.this new volume presents a wealth of information hitherto unknown and offers some fresh and unique interpretations on the rise and reign of Nader Shah Afshar.""--George Bournoutian, American Historical Review ""I have read this book with considerable pleasure and admiration.Axworthy has taken account of the latest research, contributed to that himself, and produced a book that will be welcomed by specialists and the wider history minded public.""--Charles Melville, Pembroke College, Cambridge ""Nader Shah has been too long neglected, and Michael Axworthy's The Sword of Persia provides new and valued insight into his critical role in Iran's 18th-century history.""--Professor Gene Garthwaite, Dartmouth College ""This is, without any doubt, a valuable book.

  Axworthy gives a fascinating picture of Iran in the 18th century and provides a key to the better understanding of many of the issues after Nadar Shah relating to the Zand and Qajar eras.""--Professor Sadegh Zibakalam, Tehran University.