The civilization of ancient Persia was among the most splendid, powerful and long lasting of the great historical cultures. But our knowledge of it is all too often confined to a few masterpieces of early Persian art and the Persians' role of Goliath to the Greeks' David. The Heritage of Persia is based on a firsthand study of the sources archaeological, documentary and linguistic and provides a scholarly, readable and absorbing account of 2,500 years of Persian history and culture.