Pivot of the Universe - Nasir Al-Din Shah and the Iranian Monarchy, 1831-1896

Klappentext 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.

Product details

• Authors: Abbas Amanat
• Publisher: University Of California Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 27.03.1997
• EAN: 9780520083219
• ISBN: 978-0-520-08321-9
• No. of pages: 532
• Subjects: Fiction > Narrative literature > Letters, diaries; Humanities, art, music > History > General, dictionaries; Social sciences, law, business > Political science > Political system