"Omidsalar s book on the Shahnameh, the national epic of Iran, and the most iconic text of the Persian language and literature, is a most welcome addition to the long line of works dedicated to explaining the Shahnameh, beginning with Nöldeke s Das iranische nationalepos. His book is distinguished by his profound study of the Shahnameh and its sources as well as by innovative ideas, which challenge some of the traditional and current assumptions about this epic." - Ehsan Yarshater, Director of The Center for Iranian Studies and Hagop Kevorkian Professor Emeritus of Iranian Studies at Columbia University

"In this wide-ranging and well-written work, the preeminent Shahnameh scholar Mahmoud Omidsalar considers Iran s national epic and its centrality to Iranians sense of cultural identity. Through a remarkably rich examination of the epic s influence and importance that extends beyond the borders of Iran and the limits of Persian literature, Omidsalar reassesses, challenges, and offers innovative ways to rethink a vast array oftextual, poetic, and historical approaches." - Susan Slyomovics, professor of Anthropology and Near Eastern Languages & Cultures and director of the G. E. von Grunnebaum Center for Near Eastern Studies, UCLA and author of The Merchant of Art: An Arab Epic Hilali Poet in Performance