Friends,
A new book, Decline and Fall of the Sasanian Empire, by Parvaneh Pourshariati, professor of Near Eastern languages and cultures at Ohio State University, throws new light on reasons for the fall of the Sassanian Empire.

The new book breaks some old theories that used to attribute the Fall of the empire to strict Zoroastrian religious rule, caste system, etc..

As mentioned in the book review, “Pourshariati’s theories demystify our long-standing beliefs, shaped, primarily, by the Danish scholar Arthur Christensen’s magnum opus seven decades ago, which portrayed the Sasanian polity as a highly centralized state in which the ruling monarch governed as the supreme figure of the Persian empire, with the help of an “orthodox” and dogmatic Zoroastrian clergy.”

Following is an article reviewing the book, from Irandokht News. The URL is
http://www.irandokht.com/editorial/index4.php?area=org&sectionID=14&editorialID=3764

Regards,
Maneck Bhujwala