" The Shah " had traveled to Europe and had been fascinated by the march of progress he observed there. But, once back in Terhan, this fascination had not been translated into sustained Persian modernization, but rather dissipated in the Shah's intense but short-lived passion for the latest novelties. " He is continually taking up and pushing some new scheme or invention which, when the caprice has been gratified, is neglected or allowed to expire" . "