The Shahnameh (The Book of Kings) is a monumental poem composed around 1000 C.E. by the Persian poet Ferdowsi. It narrates the exploits of mythical kings and heroes of ancient Persia as well as historical episodes from the Sasanian era. It is regarded as the national epic of Iran and its stories were once well known wherever Persian poetry was read, from Central Asia to Anatolia and from India to the Caucasus.
Helen Zimmern's version retells some of the best-known legends of the Shahnameh in English prose. She writes: "With a view to reproduce the naïve archaic character of the original, I have ventured to write my stories in the simple language of the age of Shakespeare and the English Bible, in order that by thus removing them from everyday speed, to remove them from the atmosphere of to-day."- Summary by Kazbek
