This volume is a fascinating portrait of a part of the world uneasily balanced between many loyalties ? East and West, European and Arabic. The coronation of the Shah in 1967 marked the end of the need for foreign aid, and Iran emerged from her struggles to become the leading nation in the Middle East. Written before the crippling Iran-Iraq war broke out, this book looked forward to Iran's great future, which, in the author's opinion, could only be achieved if she broke with her traditions to form a new material and spiritual synthesis.