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Chargement... Shah Abbas: The King who Refashioned Iran (Makers of the Muslim World)par Sholeh Quinn
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SHAH ʻABBAS (1571-1629) is the most well-known king of Iran's Safavid dynasty (1501-1722), ruling at the height of its power and prestige. When Shah 'Abbas came to power his country was in chaos. Yet within eleven years he had regained territory lost to his enemies, moved his capital city and begun a transformation of Iranian society. Few aspects of life were unaffected by his policies and the new capital he built, the spectacular Isfahan, is still referred to as nisf-i jahan, or "half the world", by Iranians today. In this wide-ranging profile, Sholeh A. Quinn explores Shah ʻAbbas's rise to power and his subsequent interactions with religious movements and artistic developments, reaching beyond the historical narrative to assess the true impact of the man and his politics. Thought provoking and comprehensive, this account is ideal for readers interested in uncovering the life and thoughts of a man who ruled during a period described by many as a golden age for the arts in Iran. Aucune description trouvée dans une bibliothèque |
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Google Books — Chargement... GenresClassification décimale de Melvil (CDD)955.03092History and Geography Asia IranClassification de la Bibliothèque du CongrèsÉvaluationMoyenne:
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Within each of these three periods of Abbas's life are thematic subdivisions dealing with all sorts of topics from art to war. My only criticism is that often these thematic chapters or sections dealt with events that happened in periods that did not correspond with the chronological division of the book in which they were contained. For example, the third section of the book deals with the period of Abbas's reign from 1612-1629. Within that division, there might be a section of a military campaign. However, the author won't confine her analysis to events that happened between 1612 and 1629, instead going much further back. Now, of course, this is often necessary for reasons of context, but this sort of lack of consistency between the three main chronological divisions of the book and the actual content of the chapters and sections made for a chaotic reading experience. Since sections were very short, often only a couple of pages, one constantly got the feeling that they were reading about a very narrow issue over a broad time period, followed by the next section dealing with another narrow issue over a broad time period, and on and on. It could get disorienting because one felt like one was constantly bouncing all over the place, chronologically, which disrupted the attempt by the author to create a chronological narrative. I think it would have been better to either stick to a strict chronological structure, or a strict thematic one; the attempt to join both of them in a mixed structure was not a great success, in my opinion.
With that said, I still felt it was a good introduction to an interesting historical figure in a time period I know very little about. The author has a clear writing style that is both engaging enough to draw in general readers but academic enough to avoid being shelved as pop history. Recommended for anyone interested in Shah Abbas, the Safavids, or Iranian history more generally. ( )