Ann Katharine Swynford Lambton PhD FBA OBE, usually known as A.K.S. Lambton, was a British historian and leading figure on medieval and early modern Persian history, Persian language, Islamic political theory, and Persian social organisation.
Continuity and Change in Medieval Persia: Aspects of Administrative, Economic, and Social History, 11th-14th Century, Ann K.S. Lambton
Continuity and often violent change in medieval Persia are revealed in this detailed study of aspects of Persian history during three turbulent centuries (1040-1335 A.D.). An extensive introduction provides the chronological framework for this examination of the vital areas of administrative, economic, and social history.
This is a spectacularly detailed survey of political life during Persia's most chaotic period of history. How much fodder and food did the Mongol horde need per day, and what was left in its wake? What powers, if any, did the Muslim jurists have in supposedly holding their warlords accountable to any sort of morality? What roles did women play in the rounds of politics at it's most predatory?
Dry as dust, but a treasure trove of information on medieval Persian society as it transitioned through the Saljuq and Mongol periods (11th-14th centuries). Between Lambton's extensive glossary and Google, it is comprehensible to someone relatively unfamiliar with the time and place. I am not aware of anything comparable in English.