Books about Zoroastrianism

I recently took part in a Five Books interview on books about Zoroastrianism.

Five Books is an impressively productive platform, covering a remarkable range of topics, genres, and disciplines. Reading its interviews can quickly become addictive. The website’s mission is both simple and effective:

We ask experts to recommend the five best books in their subject and explain their selection in an interview.

Yet the question of what constitutes the ‘five best books’ is, of course, not an easy one. The goal was to introduce five monographs on Zoroastrianism that are written in English, remain in print or are readily available, and are intended for a wider interested readership. My selection is:

1. Boyce, Mary. 1985. Zoroastrians: Their religious beliefs and practices. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
2. Rose, Jenny. 2011. Zoroastrianism: An introduction. London: I. B. Tauris.
3. Skjærvø, Prods Oktor. 2011. The spirit of Zoroastrianism. New Haven: Yale University Press.
4. West, Martin Litchfield. 2010. The hymns of Zoroaster. A new translation of the most ancient sacred texts of Iran. London: I. B. Tauris.
5. Zaehner, Robert Charles. 1961. The dawn and twilight of Zoroastrianism. Weidenfeld & Nicolson.

The interview also contains some personal reflection on Zoroastrianism.