Title: Pivot of the universe
First published: 1997
Description: When he was assassinated in 1896, Nasir al-Din Shah had sat on the Peacock Throne for nearly half a century.

In this book, the first in English about Nasir al-Din Shah, Abbas Amanat gives us both a biography of the man and an analysis of the institution of monarchy in modern Iran. Amanat poses a fundamental question: how did monarchy, the center-piece of an ancient political order, withstand and adjust to the challenges of modern times, both at home and abroad? Nasir al-Din Shah's life and career, his upbringing and personality, and his political conduct provide remarkable material for answering this question.

By examining the way Nasir al-Din Shah was transformed from an insecure crown prince and later an erratic boy-king in the 1840s and 50s into a ruler with substantial control over his government and foreign policy in the 1860s and beyond, Amanat explores a pattern in the consolidation of traditional monarchies as they accommodated themselves to the forces of modernity.
Subjects: Kings and rulers, Monarchy, Biography, History, Iran, Iran, history, Iran, politics and government, Iran, biography, BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY, Historical, General, Biographies, Monarchie, Rois et souverains
Places: Iran
People: Nāṣir al-Dīn Shāh Shah of Iran (1831-1896)
Time periods: 19th century