Farhad Daftary is co-director and head of the Department of Academic Research and Publications at the Institute of Ismaili Studies. An authority in Shi'i studies, with special reference to its Ismaili tradition, Dr. Daftary has published and lectured widely in the fiels of Islamic studies. Zulfikar Hirji is an Anthropologist and Social Historian of Muslim Societies and Cultures. He is currently Associate Professor of Anthropology at York University, Toronto.
The text by Farhad Daftary and Zulfikar Hirji provides an accessible, largely even-handed account [...] Only the most diligent readers will be able to keep their eyes fixed on the text, however. This is primarily a book of illustrations, and they are stunning. [...] Readers of all types, whatever their views on the divine, will find plenty to marvel at in these splendid pages. * The Times Literary Supplement *