Iran: Persia: Ancient and Modern

Helen Loveday has a BA in Chinese and a PhD in Chinese archaeology from Oxford University. Following time spent in Central Asia, she became attracted by Iran and began studying Farsi, the national language. She is interested in the Islamic architecture of ancient Persia and Sino-Iranian cultural exchanges. She currently lives in Geneva, Switzerland, where she is a curator of the Baur Foundation Museum and senior lecturer at Geneva University. Bruce Wannell read Modern European Languages at Oriel College Oxford, but later grew interested in the Iranian and Islamic world, living and travelling in Iran and Afghanistan for several years. Aside from leading tour parties to India, Africa and the Middle East, he has worked as a translator and presenter of Islamic Mystical Poetry. He lives, gardens and plays classical chamber music in York, England. Christoph Baumer studied philosophy, psychology and history of art at the University of Zurich and holds a doctorate. He is a Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland and of the Explorers Club New York. Since 1971 he has travelled extensively in Central Asia, China and Tibet and publishes books and articles on themes relating to the history, archaeology and religions of these areas. His latest work, Traces in the Desert, has been published in 2008. He lives in Switzerland. Bijan Omrani was educated at Wellington College in the United Kingdom, and then attended Lincoln College Oxford. His first book, Ticking Tom and the Tornado, was published when he was 10 years old, which he followed with contributions to The Spectator as an undergraduate. His research interests include Euripides, mysticism, and the history of the Afghan-Pakistan frontier. He is the author and editor of various works on Central Asia including Afghanistan (Odyssey Books & Guides), and is also a Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society and the Royal Geographical Society. He currently teaches Classics at Eton College.

"A stunning guide, packed with history, that no visitor to Iran should be without." - Christina Lamb, foreign affairs correspondent, Sunday Times, London - "