Shah Tahmasp I (1514-1576) was the second ruler of the Safavid dynasty of Iran (1501-1722). A.C.S. Peacock is Bishop Wardlaw Professor of Islamic History, University of St Andrews, UK, and Fellow of the British Academy. He has published widely on Iranian and Ottoman history, including The Great Seljuk Empire (2015) and the edited volume Frontiers of the Ottoman World (2009).
This meticulously annotated translation of Shah Tahmasp’s Memoirs reveals the core of the Ottoman-Safavid conflict through a key protagonist's perspective. Offering unique insights into the early modern Middle East, this work is a vital addition to scholarship, making an important historical ego document accessible to English readers for the first time. * Philip Bockholt, Professor, University of Münster, Germany * Though generally recognized as an important source for Safavid Iran, Shah Tahmasb’s memoirs, his Tazkereh, have long languished in defective editions little used even by specialists in the field of Iranian Studies. Andrew Peacock has done an outstanding job bringing this rare ego document out of obscurity with a fluent translation based on three manuscripts and preceded by an exemplary introduction that puts the work in its proper historical context. * Rudolph P. Matthee, Professor, University of Delaware, USA * The memoirs of Shah Tahmasp appeared as part of a growing trend in Persian autobiographical writings from the sixteenth-century onwards. Peacock has a done a great service to the field by offering this first English translation that is based on five manuscripts, including a transcription of probably the best one: MS Dorn 302 (St Petersburg, National Library of Russia) * Ali Anooshahr, Professor, University of California, USA *