In the autumn of 1987 the Shah of Iran left his native country, ostensibly to take an extended holiday. Some months earlier, rioting had broken out amongst the Shah's subjects, fermented by supporters of the exiled Ayatollah Khomeini. The Shah was in fact never to return to Iran; for the rest of his life he was ignominiously shunted from country to country in search of a permanent refuge. The author, a contemporary journalist, traces the story of the Shah's last years in exile - expelled by the King of Morocco, refused entry to the USA by President Carter, forced to live in a beach hut in the Bahamas - placing these events in contrast to the Shah's former opulent and decadent lifestyle in Iran. William Shawcross has also written The Quality of Mercy and Sideshow, a biography of Henry Kissinger.