Guests of the Ayatollah: The Iran Hostage Crisis: The First Battle in America's War with Militant Islam

Yes, it is a very thick book, but it needed to be because the Iranian Hostage Crisis had so many plots and sub-plots, not to mention rumors and spins, that anthing shorter would not have done the subject justice. Bowden explains in great detail how internal Iranian power-struggles influenced the Hostage Crisis more then 20 years ago. What is more, these struggles continue to the present day. The book made that clear and gave me a good foundation to understand present day Iran, its civilian government, the ayathollahs and the West's difficulty dealing with it. I read it in one setting, shortly before the most recent Iranian hostage-taking incident. It helped me understand the latest hostage crisis, in fact, I was not surprised by the way it played out at all.

This supurb book is quite long, 700+ pages. That's because it's really three, or maybe four, or depending on your point of view, perhaps five books in one. It's the story of the hostage crisis in Iran in 1979. The first book is the story of the hostages taken from the embassy. This covers them as individuals, their duties in the embassy, their lives as hostages. A surprise was how poorly they were organized to collect useful intelligence. The second book is on the students that stormed the embassy. They first did this somewhat as a lark. And it grew beyond them. A surprising part of their story is how ignorant they were of world affairs beyond their own lives. And finally how they have suceeded in the government of Iran since. But you have to wonder what would have happened if the Marine guards had started shooting. The third book is on the Delta Force and 'Operation Eagle Claw.' As we know it was a disaster. We really didn't realize just how bad it really was. Let's hope we do better on the next such event. The fourth book is on the American diplomatic response and President Carter's actions and decisions. This part also discusses the world's response and that of the United Nations which basically issued public statements. The fifth book if you can say it exists, is on the overall relationship between the United States, the west and radical Islam. We really don't know what happened in incidents like this one until we read the well researched books books such as this one that seemingly can't be done until the political passions have died. This book is exactly that kind. I can only add my two cents to the other reviewers who say that this should clearly get one of this year's Pulitzer's.

Anyone who wants to understand our current stand-off with nuclear Iran simply must read this incredible book of historical journalism. Mark Bowden has captured the very essence of our ongoing, 27-year conflict with radical Islam by exposing the horrid events of 1979 - 1980 when rage-filled college students seized the U.S. embassy in Tehran. It's a triumph of professional research and sophisticated storytelling. Bowden takes us inside the U.S. embassy just as the takeover was about to be launched. In short order, we meet an incredible cast of real-life characters, from street savvy embassy staffers like Michael Metrinko to clueless government officials and over-confident radicals. As the hostage crisis unfolds, we can see how the self-righteous "joy" over the initial takeover quickly degenerated into a sad drama of suspicion, prejudice and incompetence that dragged on for 444 days - much longer than anyone really wanted, including the hostage takers themselves. To make matters even worse, the very same radicals who launched this tragic episode are now largely in control of the Iranian government. Many Americans are still clueless about the events that got us to this place. It's a bad dream that just won't go away... Both Iran and the U.S. get their fair share of criticism in this exhaustively researched book. If you're looking for an "us vs. them, good guys vs. bad guys" treatment, don't look here. Bowden properly points out our massive intelligence failures before, during AND after the initial embassy seizure. Even the aborted rescue mission seems rooted in a fantasy cloud of wishful thinking. For their part, the Islamic radicals come across as typical "true believers" who never let the facts get in the way of the "truth." Like the Taliban, the ultimate legacy of the hostage-takers was to establish a dysfunctional, paranoid regime that poisons the soul of Islam and breeds violence throughout the Middle East. Lord save us all. Only one criticism: I wish that Bowden had included more maps of metro Tehran, more photos of second-tier players and more verbatim excerpts from original documents. Even with those flaws, this is certainly the most important non-fiction book of 2006. Bravo, Mark Bowden! PERSONAL NOTE: As a graduate of the J school that hands out the Pulitzer Prizes, I'll be extremely disappointed if Bowden doesn't win a medallion this time around. And based on some correspondence I had with President Carter back in the early 1980s, I think he would agree, even if some of the memories in this book make Carter wince.

"Guests of the Ayatollah" is a riveting account of the seizure of the American Embassy in Tehran by militant Islamic radicals and students in 1979. Fifty-two Americans (an additional 14 had been released earlier) were held hostage for 444 days until Ronald Reagon's Inauguration in 1981. With such a large cast of characters, it is helpful that each of the six chapters is opened with a page of photographs of the principals for that chapter (with two pages of maps). The author of "Black Hawk Down" chillingly describes the doomed Delta One Task Force rescue attempt in the midst of a presidential election year. His research will make this book the definitive account of this crisis. Mr. Bowden seems to have interviewed everyone involved : the hostages, the Iranians, Delta Force soldiers, and American politicians. He injects himself into the epilogue as he traveled four times to Iran in 2003-2004 to track down the key Iranian participants. "Guests of the Ayatollah" is a page-turner that sheds background and light onto the current nuclear crisis with Iran.

Guests of the Ayatollah is by far Mark Bowden's best work. If he doesn't win a Pulitzer Prize for this brilliant piece of journalism he will have been robbed! His outstanding research, interviews, and story telling weave the most compelling narrative of what actually occurred behind the walls of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, Iran during the 444 days that America was held captive. You actually feel like you are right there amongst the American hostages battling anger, fear, depression, smiling inward with every small personal victory over the Iranian students, and comtemplating ways to escape the nightmare both physically and mentally. You also get a clear picture of a President who is angered by the turn of events in Iran, but is too weak to do anything about it. The inclusion of the details of the bold, but ill-fated American rescue mission (Operation Eagle Claw) is fascinating in itself and brilliantly woven into the story. Twenty-six years after the U.S. Embassy takeover you would think that everything that needed to be said about the crisis would have been said, but as Mark Bowden shows that's clearly not the case! THIS IS AN ABSOLUTELY MUST READ BOOK! A note to Mark Bowden: A great piece of journalism, Mark! I hope you pick up a Pulitzer Prize. You deserve it!