Guests of the Ayatollah

By Mark Bowden

Subjects: Chronology, Search and rescue operations, Foreign relations, Rekishi, United states, foreign relations, iran, Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981, Diplomatic relations, Taishikan, Hostages, Buitenlandse betrekkingen, 15.75 history of Asia, Gaikokukankei, Gijzelingen, Armed Forces, 20seiki, New York Times reviewed, Iran, foreign relations, Iran hostage crisis, 1979-1981, Radicalisme, Iran, Terorizumu, United states, army, history, Iran, history, Islamieten, Personal narratives, Amerikagasshūkoku, United states, armed forces

Description: A chronicle of the Iran hostage crisis, America's first battle with militant Islam. On November 4, 1979, a group of radical Islamist students, inspired by the revolutionary Iranian leader Ayatollah Khomeini, stormed the U.S. embassy in Tehran. They took 52 Americans hostage, and kept nearly all of them hostage for 444 days. Journalist Bowden tells the story through the eyes of the hostages, the soldiers in a new special forces unit sent to free them, their radical, naïve captors, and the diplomats working to end the crisis. Bowden takes us inside the hostages' cells and inside the Oval Office for meetings with President Carter and his exhausted team. We travel to international capitals where shadowy figures held clandestine negotiations, and to the deserts of Iran, where a courageous, desperate attempt to rescue the hostages exploded into tragic failure.--From publisher description.