The great national epic of Persia—the most complete English-language editionWherever Persian influence has spread, the stories of the Shahnamehbecome deeply embedded in the culture, as their appearance in such novels as The Kite Runneramply attests. Among the greatest works of world literature, this prodigious narrative, composed by the poet Ferdowsi in the late tenth century, tells the story of pre-Islamic Iran, beginning in the mythic time of creation and continuing forward to the Arab invasion in the seventh century. The sweep and psychological depth of the Shahnamehis nothing less than magnificent. Now one of the greatest translators of Persian poetry, Dick Davis, presents Ferdowsi’s masterpiece in an elegant combination of prose and verse.