The Shah

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi ruled Iran as its hereditary, divine monarch for almost 40 years before he was driven from the throne by the 1979 popular revolution. Milani (research fellow, Hoover Inst., Stanford Univ.), an Iranian exile jailed by the Shah in the 1970s, has written a clear, detailed biography explaining the personal and family characteristics that shaped the Shah's approach to governing. Acknowledging but not following the constitutional character of the government, the Shah sought to control political power and succeeded through the 1960s–70s. His "White Revolution" spurred economic development and cultural freedom but never eased political repression. Integrating archival and secondary-source research from Iranian, U.S., and British sources, as well as interviews with key figures, Milani illustrates the impact of foreign pressure and explains the Shah's vacillations, e.g., the threat of Soviet interference and British and U.S. manipulation, the Shah's intentions to help Iran vs. his inability to respond to the popular desire for political participation, and his failure to create institutions that would keep Iran on the path to modernization.