Yamamoto considers the role oral tradition played in the genesid of the Sâh-nâme (The Book of Kings) of Abo'l-Qâsem Ferdowsi, who flourished about 1000 CE. She does not grapple with whether Ferdowsi used written or oral sources, but examines how oral tradition interacted, primarily indirectly, with the writing in the genesis of the epic during a predominantly written environment. The study is based on her Ph.D. dissertation for the University of London in 2000. Annotation (c) Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)