There is drama in the story of Pahlevi's last year and a half, from his leaving Iran until his death in July 1980. But there is actually rather little story. Shawcross, the talented author of Sideshow, has done his best to eke out the details of this sad, small tale. But this reader concludes that he has pretty much wasted his time, and Shawcross himself seems to know it. For all his efforts to fill out The Shah's Last Ride, he relies heavily on that favorite trick of the schoolchild who has to write a paper but has nothing to say — he pads.
The shah having spent a few weeks in Morocco, we are treated to a full biography of Moroccan King Hasan. Almost anything that will fill a few pages does — gossip about sexual escapades at the court in Tehran, technical explanations of the shah's various ailments, the history of Panama, even the political philosophies of the agents who dealt with the shah for the various governments. The Shah's Last Ride proves that too many investigative journalists are working away in our midst. Having run out of subjects, they are reduced to "investigating" small, flimsy sideshows.
This said, The Shah's Last Ride is a well-written and engrossing tale. Aside from several tirades against Henry Kissinger, Shawcross offers a generally balanced account. He sees the shah's failings and those of everyone else, but he also appreciates the man's human dimensions and is sensible to the whole event's tragic overtones.
