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Reza Shah's authoritarian and modernising reign transformed Iran, but his rule and Iran's independence ended in ignominy in 1941. In this book, Shaul Bakhash tells the full story of the Anglo-Soviet invasion which led to his forced abdication, drawing upon previously unused sources to reveal for the first time that the British briefly, but seriously, toyed with the idea of doing away altogether with the ruling Pahlavis and considered reinstalling on the throne a little-regretted previous dynasty. Bakhash charts Reza Shah's final journey through Iran and into his unhappy exile; his life in exile, his reminiscences; his testy relationship with the British in Mauritius and Johannesburg; and the circumstances of his death. Additionally, it reveals the immense fortune Reza Shah amassed during his years in power, his finances in exile, and the drawn-out dispute over the settlement of his estate after his death.
A significant contribution to the literature on Reza Shah and British imperialism as it played out in the case of one critical country during World War II, the book reveals the fraught relationship between a once powerful ruler in his final days and the British government at a critical moment in recent history.
List of contents
Table of Contents
Chapter I: Solder and King, Reformer and Autocrat
Chapter 2: Britain and the Abdication of Reza Shah
Chapter 3: ‘Dear Anthony’, ‘Dear Leo’: Britain’s Quixotic Flirtation with Dynastic Change
Chapter 4: The Journey into Exile
Chapter 5: Mauritius: ‘A Prison’…A Death in Life’
Chapter 6: Johannesburg and Death
Chapter 7: Wrapping Up
Chapter 8: Reza Shah’s Finances in Exile
Chapter 9: The Settlement of Reza Shah’s Estate
Chapter 10: A Brief Epilogue
Notes
Bibliography
About the author
Shaul Bakhash
Summary
Reza Shah’s authoritarian and modernising reign transformed Iran, but his rule and Iran’s independence ended in ignominy in 1941. In this book, Shaul Bakhash tells the full story of the Anglo-Soviet invasion which led to his forced abdication, drawing upon previously unused sources to reveal for the first time that the British briefly, but seriously, toyed with the idea of doing away altogether with the ruling Pahlavis and considered reinstalling on the throne a little-regretted previous dynasty. Bakhash charts Reza Shah’s final journey through Iran and into his unhappy exile; his life in exile, his reminiscences; his testy relationship with the British in Mauritius and Johannesburg; and the circumstances of his death. Additionally, it reveals the immense fortune Reza Shah amassed during his years in power, his finances in exile, and the drawn-out dispute over the settlement of his estate after his death.
A significant contribution to the literature on Reza Shah and British imperialism as it played out in the case of one critical country during World War II, the book reveals the fraught relationship between a once powerful ruler in his final days and the British government at a critical moment in recent history.
Foreword
Reza Shah's last years of abdication, including new evidence of Britain's attempt to replace the Pahlavi dynasty
Additional text
Shaul Bakhash’s study is an objective, masterful and beautifully written account of the last years life of one of the architects of modernisation in the Middle East. Meanwhile, with great skill Bakhash depicts the practice of great powers in the realm of the international relations, assaulting the sovereignty of small nations when their own interests come first. A timely look at the world today coming out of the Cold War.
