Sword of Persia: Nader Shah, from Tribal Warrior to Conquering Tyrant

Front Cover
Bloomsbury Academic, Jul 28, 2006 - Biography & Autobiography - 348 pages
Nader Shah, ruler of Persia from 1736 to 1747, took eighteenth-century Iran from political collapse to become the dominant power in the region, recovering Herat and Kandahar, conquering Moghul Delhi, plundering the enormous treasures of India, repeatedly defeating Ottoman Turkey, and overrunning most of what is now Iraq. But suspicion and avarice led him to persecute the Persian people as savagely as any foreign conqueror had done. This book recreates the story of a remarkable, ruthless man, and includes much new research which will prove indispensable to historians and students.

About the author (2006)

Michael Axworthy studied History at Peterhouse, Cambridge and was Head of the Iran Section, Foreign and Commonwealth Office from 1998 to 2000. He has been to Iran many times both as a visitor and as a diplomat. He now teaches Middle East History at Exeter University.

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