The product of a lifetime spent in India and the Middle East, for over a century this two-volume work by Sir John Malcolm (1769-1833), first published in 1815, remained the most trusted chronicle of Persia. Translated into French, German and Persian, the detailed and diverse contents earned its diplomat author an honorary Doctorate of Laws from the University of Oxford. Although learned, Malcolm’s narrative is informed by personal experiences acquired while serving as an envoy and secretary to the governor general, a position which clearly shaped his views on the country’s political character. Volume 1 ‘commences in the fabulous ages’, and covers the period from the ancient dynasties of Paishdadian and Kaianian, until the reign of Mahmood in the early eighteenth century.