The KingIt is the nineteenth century and the kingdom of persia is at a turning point. When a young king, shah naser, takes to the throne he inherits a medieval, enchanted world. But beyond the court, the greater forces of colonisation and industrialisation close in. The shah's grand vizier sees only one solution to open up to the outside world, and to bring persia into modernity. But the shah's mother fiercely opposes the vizier's reforms and sets about