I apologize if this is the wrong place. I have tried my hardest to look for the proper forum to post this in, however I simply cannot find it. I encourage the moderators to move this post to it's suitable location, that is if you wish.
I would like to ask, where can I find good books on the subject of the Iranian Intermezzo. I find the period to be fascinating not just because of it's impact on Iranian history but also on the Middle East itself. Often, when reading the small snippets of information I have on the various states and polities active in the era, my imagination let's loose and I wonder exactly what would happen if these states ended up surviving and became strong, developed, independent nations with formalized political structures and distinct cultures. I would love to utilize these states potential and play around with the possibly complex and interconnected relationships between the states. The Iranian Intermezzo had so much potential, it could've been a bastion, a foundation for the fledgling nations arisen from the ashes of the Abbasids. Yes, a majority of these Intermezzo states were run by military men self-proclaiming themselves as Shah, Emirs, and Caliphs. However haven't all ancient nations and empires been started by military men, people capable of taking power and maintaining it? Despite it's brutality, military force, outside of cultural and religious influence (which is rare anyways), is by far one of the most effective ways of founding your own nation in the medieval ages.
So I ask of you learned men and women, how could the Buyyids for example, not achieve the stability and development as the Umayyads or Abbasids did at their height? How could the Saffarids and Samanids, based on my own limited knowledge, not decide to fully revive Sasanian customs and administration or potentially, in the case of the Samanids, go back to Zorostrianism as state religion? How could you tell me that the Qaramatians couldn't through sheer luck, prevent the entire Muslim world from wanting to rip their heads off after sacking Mecca (which was a very unlikely event in the first place)?
So I ask those viewing and lurking in this thread, if possible, to give me books, resources, information, anything, I'll eat up anything that has something even remotely related to the Iranian Intermezzo happily. Thank you for help.