‘Persians’ Review: Mighty and Misunderstood

On Dec. 28, 1934, Sir Hughe Montgomery Knatchbull-Hugessen, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Persia—good luck parodying that—wrote to George Rendel, the Head of the Eastern Department of Britain’s Foreign Office, describing “an absurd note” from the local government, “asking us to speak of ‘Iran’ and ‘Iranian’ instead of ‘Persia’ and ‘Persians.’ ”: “I understand the person originally responsible for this is Herodotus, who, not being able to foresee the sensitivities of the modern Persian, was insufficiently polite in his references to this country.”