Likewise, his example exerted a profound influence upon Plato, Aristotle, and the development of Judeo-Christian thought. Although some of these teachings have been preserved in the sacred scripture known as the Avesta, almost nothing is known about Zoroaster the man. "Zoroaster: Life and Work of the Forerunner in Iran" is the first general-audience biography of the great Persian sage. This compelling and readable story shows how, through connecting completely with the guidance offered him by Divine Grace, the young boy Saadi matures steadily until he realizes his task and his true identity. As the long-awaited herald, Zoroaster, it was his purpose to unite the people of Persia into a belief of one God, Ahuramazda, and to announce the coming of the Son of Man, the Soashyant, who would lead this world into and through the Last Judgement. Before his arrival, the land of Persia was consumed by natural disasters that destroyed most of the people and almost all of their structures. A new society had to be built literally from the ground up, this time based upon God's Laws, rather than man's. As we today are facing a new millennium, as natural disasters threaten our very existence, "Zoroaster: Life and Work of the Forerunner in Iran" is a book of particular relevance.

    All aspects of the religious, philosophical, political, economic, scientific and artistic elements in Iranian civilization are studied, with some emphasis on the geographical and ecological factors that have contributed to that civilization's special character. The aim is to provide a collection of readable essays rather than a catalogue of information. The volumes offer scope for the publication of new ideas as well as providing summaries of established facts. It is hoped that the volumes will act as a stimulus to specialists, but they are primarily concerned with answering the sort of questions about the past and present of Iran that are asked by the nonspecialist.

    For centuries the Persians waged war against their traditional enemies the Turanians, and from this struggle came inspring stories ofvalour. This collection includes tales of the legendary heroes, including the great warrior Rustem, who overcame demons and dragons and tragically slew his own son in battle.

    Rejali investigates torture in Iran in order to understand and critically reconsider the politics and psychology of modern torture. In a world in which one out of every three governments uses torture, Rejali points to a common past, one shared by Iranians and non-Iranians alike, that supports this practice.“My aim,” Rejali writes, “is to use the study of torture, and of punishment more generally, to unearth deep and important assumptions about society, history, politics, and the ‘good life' that I believe underpin the life of a torturer.”Exploring the four principle explanations of modern torture—those offered by human rights activists, modernization theorists, state terrorist theorists such as Noam Chomsky, and post-structuralists, especially Michel Foucault—Rejali asks, “Do the accounts of political violence that we have developed over the past century have any real… explanatory or even moral significance… in today's world, or are they just consolations in the face of events we cannot fully understand?” His answers lead him to reconsider how Middle Eastern and European history are written and move him to question cherished assumptions about state formation, modernization, and postmodernism. Torture and Modernity is a deeply unsettling book—it contains not only graphic verbal passages, but an extensive photographic essay—yet it is intended to serve as a guide to rethinking current attitudes and reshaping political policies. How people are punished necessarily invokes conceptions of what human beings are and what they might become. A work such as this offers an understanding of what it means to “become modern,” and it is only when this notion of modernity is made manifest and analyzed that one can firmly grasp the prospects for a world without torture.