Like other great epics, Shahnameh is a chronicle of the human imaginative consciousness. It tells the long history of the Persian people beginning with the creation of the world and the origin myths of civilization and ending with the Arab conquest of Iran in the seventh century. A mix of myth, epic tales, and history, Shahnameh takes the reader on heroic adventures filled with superhuman champions, magical creatures, heart-wrenching love stories, and centuries-long battles. "The illustrations of this Shahnameh, while totally dependent on the art of the past, most closely evoke the fantasy literature of today in visual form. Thanks to the dramatic dynamism of Ferdowsi's epic, its contemporary interpretation in images is a vibrant feast for the imagination, making this a Shahnameh for the digital age." --Sheila Canby, Metropolitan Museum of Art