This coffee table book is a continuation in the series of volumes on the legendary stories of ancient Persia, as depicted in the Shahnameh, also known as The Persian Book of Kings. When one looks at the work of Firdausi Tusi, the profound author of the Shahnameh, it becomes very apparent that he masterfully crafted the legendary stories and provided a detailed account of the kings and heroes of ancient Persian Empires. The pre-historic stories of the Pishdadians and Kayanians have been well recorded in the Shahnameh, with the exception of the wrong chronological inclusion of Alexander as the last king of the Kayanian Dynasty. This in fact, according to history, becomes the reality a thousand years later, as Alexander ruled over Persia at the end of the Achaemenian Dynasty in 329 BCE. Somehow there is no account of this Dynasty in the Shahnameh, as Firdausi addresed some of the later Persian rulers leading upto the end of the Persian era in 651 CE. This book offers a brief historical outlook on the Achaemenian Dynasty - the one that contributed immensely to the overall magnificence of the Persian Past.

I trust that this pictorial book finds a place with those who would like to glance through some of the historical highlights of this Dynasty, and treasure the thought that this once-mighty Persian Empire made it's mark on World History. Legendary Kings such as Cyrus the Great and Darius I have affirmed their immortality through the times, and they will be hailed as the 'Master Rulers' for centuries to come.