The Immortals

[Vishtaspa]

Achaemennet sure looks good, unfortunately I can't understand French. It might have been early work of Wieserhöfer but the work of him I read was very mainstream, nothing interesting.

Don't worry at all, the achemenet web can be put in english, and contains many material ( some articles) in english. The other web, http://www.museum-achemenet.college-de-france.fr/ has great image stuff.
While Briant's work is the best modern reference book (dethroning that of Olmstead, not bad book for his age) Wieserhöfer, imo, has one of the best introductory books (Ancient Persia), wiht good bibliographical references for further study. As you said, nothing new, but I strongly recomend that for a well made introduction. And covers parthian and sassanian times too.

Btw. If you really plan to read the Shahnameh in Persian some day and want to train your Persian skills on Ferdowsi level, there is a serial about Ferdowsi's live which was recently produced and released in Iranian TV. Although is has some Islamic episodes built-in, it mainly shows the tales of the battle between Esfandiar and Rostam and the tale of Rostam and Sohrab (which is also found in Germanic legends). Some of the actors look good and although the equipment is not really historical it gives a good impression on the Shahnameh. If you’re interested you can download it from this site: http://www.persianhub.org/53-download-chehel-sarbaz/

Since Ferdowsi is one of my heroes I like the TV show, even if the propagated Persia-ShiaMoslem link is not according to my taste.

Thank you for that, I'm downloading. It sounds very interesting, but with my current level I can`t understand well a tv serie. I have also a Shahnameh persian resume made for kids. Nevertheless, hearing and viewing a tv serie is a great training. And I understand your tastes regarding that.

regards