Kaveh Farrokh () is a

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

author of several academic books and peer-reviewed publications specializing in

Iranian history The history of Iran (also known as Persia) is intertwined with Greater Iran, which is a socio-cultural region encompassing all of the areas that have witnessed significant settlement or influence exerted by the Iranian peoples and the Iranian ...

, and has been a frequent lecturer on Iran-related topics at the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

as part of the UBC Continuing Education program. Currently, he is a counselor and learning specialist at

Langara College Langara College (snəw̓eyəɬ leləm̓ in ''Halkomelem'') is a public degree-granting college in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada which serves more than 19,000 students annually. Langara College started in 1965 as part of Vancouver Community ...

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

, Canada.

Life

Farrokh was born in

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

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and later attended Institute Chateaubriand in

Cannes Cannes (, ; , ; ) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions Internatio ...

, France. Farrokh earned his doctorate (

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

) in 2001 from the Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology at the

, where he specialized in the cognitive and linguistic processes of

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

speakers. Previously, he earned his MA in 1988 and BA in 1985 from the same institution. Farrokh has authored four books on the

military history of Iran The military history of Iran has been relatively well-documented, with History of Iran, thousands of years' worth of recorded history. Largely credited to its historically unchanged geographical and geopolitical condition, the modern-day Iran, ...

, co-authored two books on the same topic, acted as editor for academic publications, and contributed to a number of articles for peer-reviewed journals and online publications. He has also been quoted in media outlets concerning Iranian history. For example, Farrokh was interviewed on

Voice of America Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is an international broadcasting network funded by the federal government of the United States that by law has editorial independence from the government. It is the largest and oldest of the American internation ...

's Persian service about the legacy of the Achaemenid founder,

Cyrus the Great Cyrus II of Persia ( ; 530 BC), commonly known as Cyrus the Great, was the founder of the Achaemenid Empire. Achaemenid dynasty (i. The clan and dynasty) Hailing from Persis, he brought the Achaemenid dynasty to power by defeating the Media ...

The History Channel History (formerly and commonly known as the History Channel) is an American pay television network and the flagship channel of A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the General Entertainment Content division of The Wa ...

has also interviewed him on the topic of technology in ancient Persia for the series

Engineering an Empire ''Engineering an Empire'' is a television documentary miniseries that originally aired on the History Channel. The series explores the engineering and/or architectural feats that were characteristic of notable societies and cultures. It is host ...

, which aired in 2006. He has also lectured at the University of British Columbia's Persian Legacy series in addition to other engagements hosted by the University of British Columbia's Department of Asian Studies. In 2009, he was given a Merit Award by the Iran Heritage, Persian Gulf, and Iran Alliance.

Books

Farrokh has authored and co-authored a number of books. He has contributed to edited books in addition to acting as editor for other academic and professional publication outlets.

Authored

His first book, ''Sassanian Elite Cavalry AD 224 - 642'', was published in 2005 by

Osprey Publishing Osprey Publishing is a British publishing company specializing in military history formerly based in Oxford. Predominantly an illustrated publisher, many of their books contain full-colour artwork plates, maps and photographs, and the company p ...

. His second book, ''Shadows in the Desert: Ancient Persia at War'', was published in 2007 by Osprey Publishing. In its foreword,

Richard N. Frye Richard Nelson Frye (January 10, 1920 – March 27, 2014) was an American scholar of Iranian and Central Asian studies, and Aga Khan Professor Emeritus of Iranian Studies at Harvard University. His professional areas of interest were Irania ...

, the

Aga Khan Aga Khan (; ; also transliterated as ''Aqa Khan'' and ''Agha Khan'') is a title held by the Imamate in Nizari doctrine, Imām of the Nizari Isma'ilism, Nizari Isma'ilism, Ismāʿīli Shia Islam, Shias. The current holder of the title is the ...

Professor Emeritus of Iranian Studies at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

praises the author for giving "the Persian side of the picture as opposed to the Greek and Roman viewpoint which has long dominated our understanding of these wars", describing Farrokh's approach as "refreshing". The book was criticized by

Jona Lendering Jona Lendering (born 29 October 1964) is a Dutch historian and the author of books on antiquity, Dutch history and modern management. He has an MA in history from Leiden University and an MA in Mediterranean culture from the Amsterdam Free Uni ...

in ''

Bryn Mawr Classical Review ''Bryn Mawr Classical Review'' (''BMCR''), founded in 1990, is an open access journal that as of 2008 published reviews of scholarly work in the field of classical studies including classical archaeology. The journal describes itself as the sec ...

'', who has written that it contained factual errors and ignored recent scholarship. Lendering's review was disputed in a later issue of ''Bryn Mawr Classical Review''. Citing Lendering,

Pierre Briant Pierre Briant (born 30 September 1940 in Angers) is a French Iranologist, Professor of History and Civilisation of the Achaemenid World and the Empire of Alexander the Great at the Collège de France (1999 onwards), Doctor Honoris Causa at the U ...

and

Amélie Kuhrt Amélie Kuhrt (23 September 1944 – 2 January 2023) was a British historian and specialist in the history of the ancient Near East. Kuhrt was educated at King's College London, University College London and SOAS. Professor Emerita at Univer ...

agree that recent advances in

Achaemenid The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire, also known as the Persian Empire or First Persian Empire (; , , ), was an Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid dynasty in 550 BC. Based in modern-day Iran, it was the large ...

historiography are not always correctly evaluated and taken fully into account. They also criticize excessively aggressive responses by others to Lendering's review stating that such polemical exchange gives a distorted, even caricatured image of the state of Achaemenid history today. His third book, ''Iran at War: 1500 - 1988'', was published in 2011 by Osprey Publishing and covered Iranian military history from the

Safavid Empire The Guarded Domains of Iran, commonly called Safavid Iran, Safavid Persia or the Safavid Empire, was one of the largest and longest-lasting Iranian empires. It was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often considered the begi ...

to the Iran-Iraq War. His fourth book, ''The Armies of Ancient Persia: The Sassanians'', was published in 2017 by the Pen & Sword Military imprint of

Pen and Sword Books Pen and Sword Books, also stylised as Pen & Sword, is a British publisher which specialises in printing and distributing books in both hardback and softback on military history, militaria and other niche subjects, primarily focused on the Unit ...

Co-authored

''A Synopsis of Sasanian Military Organization and Combat Units'', co-authored with Gholamreza Karamian and Katarzyna Maksymiuk, was published in 2018 by Archeobooks of Krakow, Poland as well as the publishing house of

Siedlce University of Natural Sciences and Humanities The Siedlce University () is a higher-education institution in Siedlce, Poland. It was created on October 1, 2010, by the decision of Sejm signed by the President of the Republic of Poland, Bronisław Komorowski. The previous name of the universi ...

. ''The Siege of Amida (359 CE)'', co-authored with Javier Sánchez-Gracia and Katarzyna Maksymiuk, was also published in 2018 by Archeobooks as well as the publishing house of

Select bibliography

Farrokh's works have appeared and been translated into a number of languages including Spanish, Persian, Russian, German, and Polish.

English language sources

* * * * * * *

Spanish language sources

* Sánchez-Gracia, Javier & Farrokh, Kaveh (2019). Trajano Pártico: Las victoriosas campañas de Trajano en Persia, 114-117 d.C. rajan Parthicus: The victorious campaigns of Trajan in Persia, 114-117 CE Zaragoza, Spain: HRM Ediciones.

Persian language sources

* کاوه فرخ و غلامرضا کرمیان (۱۳۹۵). ساختار ارتش اشکانیان. تهران: خانه تاریخ و تصویر ابریشمی. Farrokh, Kaveh & Karamian, Gholamreza (2016). The Structure of the Parthian Army. Tehran: Khaneye Tarikh va Tasvire Abrishami. * کاوه فرخ - سواره نظام زبده ساساني (۱۳۹۳) - مترجم: ميثم عليي - ناشر :انتشارات اميرکبير - محل نشر : تهران – Elite Sassanian Cavalry translated into Persian (2014) by Amir Kabir Publishers (Tehran, Iran), Translator into Persian (Meysam Aliee). * ترجمه ایران در جنگ از چالدران تا جنگ تحمیلی توسط انتشارات ققنوس (۱۳۹۷) - Farrokh Book (2011) Iran at War - translated by Qoqnoos Publishers into Persian (2018), Translator (Maryam Saremi). * کاوه فرخ - سایه‌هایی در بیابان: ایران باستان در زمان جنگ (بهمن ۱/ ۱۳۹۰ ) - مترجم: پدرام خزایی - ناشر : طاق‌ بستان - محل نشر : كرمانشاه - Shadows in the Desert: Ancient Persia at War translated into Persian (Jan. 21, 2012) by Tagh Bostan Publishers (Kermanshah, Iran), Translator (Pedram Khozai). * خبرگزاری مهر(۱۳۹۰/۷/۲)- کاوه فرخ - ساﯾﻳﻫای صحرا؛ﺍﯾراﺍن باستان ﺩر جنگ - مترجم: شهربانو سارمی - ناشر : ققنوس - محل نشر : تهران -Mehr News (Sept 24, 2011): Shadows in the Desert: Ancient Persia at war Translated into Persian by Qoqnoos Publishers (Tehran, Iran), Translator to Persian (Maryam Saremi). *کاوه فرخ - اسواران ساسانی (۱۳۸۸) - مترجم: یوسف امیری - ناشر : گل افتاب - محل نشر : مشهد - Elite Sassanian Cavalry translated into Persian (2009) by Gole Aftab Publishers (Mashad, Iran), Translator to Persian (Yusef Amiri). * کاوه فرخ - سواره نظام زبده ارتش ساسانی (۱۳۸۷) - مترجم: بهنام محمدپناه - ناشر : سبزان - محل نشر : تهران - Elite Sassanian Cavalry translated into Persian (2008) by Sabzan Publishers (Tehran, Iran), Translator to Persian (Behnam Mohammad-Panah).

Russian language sources

* Персы: Армия великих царей, Cерия: Военная история человечества, Москва (July 24, 2009) - Shadows in the Desert: Ancient Persia at war Translated into Russian by EXMO Publishers: Military History of Mankind Series (Moscow, Russian Federation), Translator to Russian (A. Efremov).

German language sources

* Farrokh, Kaveh & Khorasani, Manouchehr Moshtagh (2020). Die Sassanidische Infantrie he Sassanian Infantry Pallasch: Zeitschrift für Militärgeschichte. Organ der Österreichischen Gesellschaft für Heerskunde, No. 71, February 2020, pp. 25–35.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Farrokh, Kaveh Canadian non-fiction writers 1962 births Living people Writers from Athens Greek people of Iranian descent Langara College people Iranologists University of British Columbia alumni