Love at a Crux: The New Persian Romance in a Global Middle Ages

"Highly original, theoretically alert, and brilliantly written, Love at a Crux provides penetrating insights into one of the most captivating works of classical Persian literature. With great mastery, Cross explores Vis & Rāmin within broader and interconnected literary, theological, and philosophical developments in the Late Antique, medieval Islamicate, and European worlds."

Julia Rubanovich, Senior Lecturer in Persian Language and Literature and Head of the Iranian Studies Program, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

"This is an excellent book that addresses not only specialists in Persian literature but also medievalists, Byzantinists, as well as comparatists. Cross has taken a fresh approach to Vis & Rāmin , that is both ingenious and compelling, as it attempts to make sense of the medieval narrative’s disjointedness. Vis & Rāmin has been removed from a conventional – vertical and national – history of Persian literature and has been placed horizontally into the broader world of ancient and medieval romance."

Panagiotis Agapitos, Professor of Byzantine Literature, University of Mainz

"At once a focused study of a single literary work – the eleventh-century Persian romance Vis & Rāmin – and an expansive account of literary history seen from a specific vantage point, Cameron Cross’s work invites us to rethink our understanding of the ‘Global Middle Ages.’ His analysis of Abrahamic and Hellenic traditions allows us to see how confessional identities and neoplatonic philosophical commitments were mediated through the genre of romance at the vibrant cultural crossroads that was medieval Persia."

Suzanne Conklin Akbari, Professor of Medieval Studies, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, NJ

"Love at a Crux places the eleventh-century Persian verse narrative Vis & Rāmin firmly within the context of transnational romance and also makes a brilliantly argued case for its paramount importance as Persian literature’s primary major instance of the genre. This is a well-argued and very rewarding book that should be read by all scholars of both the romance genre and medieval Persian literature."

Dick Davis, Professor Emeritus of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, Ohio State University