Posted on 06/15/2006 6:29:52 PM PDT by 68skylark
It seems like ancient history, but also as current as today's headlines.
That's why the 1979-1981 hostage crisis in Iran had such appeal for Mark Bowden, the author of the best-selling "Black Hawk Down." Five years of research and in-person reporting, including three trips to Iran, only further convinced the indefatigable Pennsylvania journalist of the relevance of the crisis in Tehran when Iranian militant students stormed the U.S. Embassy and seized 52 American hostages.
As Bowden has reflected, "I think that the seizure of the American embassy in Tehran in 1979 was conceived as a small thing with local motivations and goals, but it was immediately swept up by an international tide of anger and hatred that is still gaining strength today. Not even the hostage-takers anticipated the enormous response their action would generate and, in a sense, became hostages to that response themselves. If we want to understand what we are up against, and why this struggle happened, we need to understand what happened in Tehran in 1979."
Bowden's "Guests of the Ayatollah" (Atlantic Monthly Press, 637 pages, $26) examines what happened in Tehran in great depth from multiple vantage points, but still manages to provide the sort of riveting drama and telling detail that readers have come to expect from a Bowden work. It is a masterful account that includes its share of revelations, but never veers far from the intensely personal stories that took place behind the scenes.
"Guests of the Ayatollah" seems destined for lofty residence on the summer's best-seller lists, further cementing Bowden's reputation as one of America's finest print journalists.
Mark Bowden discusses "Guests of the Ayatollah" at 7 p.m. Thursday in Room 220 of Kane Hall at the University of Washington. Information through the University Book Store; 206-634-3400
I just saw ads for this same title on discovery channel..
2/24/2006 9pm
Im 3/4 of the way through it...please dont tell me how it ends. Im hoping Carter grows a set and nukes them.zzzz/s
No, the American public grows a set and elects a new guy. But I won't tell you who it is!
I wonder how much the Ayatoilets would mind if someone took one of their children against their will and held them as a "guest" for over a year.
If their kids have to live in Iran, that's punishment enough.
Desperate to end the hostage crisis, President Jimmy Carter authorizes a new, top-secret Army unit to lead perhaps the most audacious rescue mission in military history.
For those of you born after 1980....spoiler alert! Carter was one of the worst presidents in history. The rescue attempt was likely the most disastrous in history. Military equipment, readiness, and morale were at a near all time low. This episode teaser is as sickening as it is misleading.
Gee that was a long, long time ago.
Yeah -- ancient history.
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