Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi

Pahlavi is the last Shah of Iran, and by the end of the book is forced to flee the country in February of 1979 amidst revolution. He is the son of Shah Reza Khan, a larger-than-life ruler. In some ways, Pahlavi struggled to emerge from his father's shadow, and never succeeded in doing so. Kapuscinski points to an early photograph of Pahlavi as proof of this psychology, contrasting physically imposing and confident Reza Khan with his pale and frail son Pahlavi.

Reza Khan is stripped of his power by the West in 1941, and Pahlavi is made Shah of Iran at twenty-two. He is forced to flee in the early 1950s to Rome when liberal politician Doctor Mossadegh stages a minor coup in a bid to nationalize the country's oil. Pahlavi is reinstalled in 1953 by Western powers.

Pahlavi rules with an iron fist, using his secret police...