Fire Altar

Written between 1991 and 1993, Daruwala's collection celebrates the histories and legends of the grand Persian empire, a phase of history barely glanced at in contemporary literature. In these verses, Daruwala explores the histories of Darius, Cyrus, Xerxes and their courts, their battles, their triumphs and their losses. He ties in the narrative of the Persian empire, with its history of tolerance and its significance as the birthplace of Zoroastrianism, with the more well-known stories of Alexander the Great and his Greek cohorts. A journey for roots, meaning and religious and social understanding, Fire Altar is a collection that will resound with readers for many years to come.