A specialist on Zoroastrianism, Williams (Iranian studies and comparative religion, U of Manchester) offers a new edition of the 1599 Persian poem that underlies so much Zoroastrian consciousness in India but that so few have read in the original or even in reliable translation. The text is transcribed from Arabic to Latin, and faces a literal English translation in blank verse. He also comments in detail on the text, discusses the narrative structure, and explores the mythological and religious dimensions of what is a foundational document of Parsi Zoroastrian culture. Among the oddities he points out are that the poem was written by a native Gujarati speaker in a style of Persian that was a learned literary-religious survival in a centuries-old Zoroastrian tradition of Persian verse composition. Annotation ©2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)