Safavid Iran: Rebirth of a Persian Empire

"Andrew Newman offers a complete re-evaluation of the dynasty's place in history as it presided over these extraordinary developments and the wondrous flowering of Iranian culture. Safavid longevity, in Newman's analysis, derived from the success of court efforts both to give voice to the interests and 'agendas' of its many different groups of subjects and to portray the shah as the simultaneous spokesman for, and transcendent ruler over, the entire nation. Twelver Shi'ism emerges as a contested arena in this process but less intolerant than is often supposed." "Throughout, Newman questions the continued reliance on frequently contradictory and unevenly informed contemporary European accounts and on Persian language sources often written well after the events in question. Based on meticulous scholarship, he shows the extraordinary development and achievement of the period and offers a valuable new interpretation of the eventual demise of the Safavids in the eighteenth century."--BOOK JACKET.