"Never Shook off the Tainted Reputation of Being a Puppet"

"Most important, he says that the shah, while suppressing all leftist and reform movements, was so obsessed with the threat of communism that he built up the strength of the Islamic clergy as a bulwark against the menace. Although he sent the most radical anti-government Islamic leaders like the Ayatollah Khomeini into exile, he assumed the others were his partners in the conflict with communism. He did so without ever bothering to listen to their complaints and demands. When the street protests erupted, the Islamic clergy led the most organized opposition in Iran."

Stanley Meisler in the Los Angeles Times reviews Abbas Milani's The Shah.