Guests of the Ayatollah: The Inside Story of the Iranian Hostage Crisis - Softcover

"Suspenseful, Inspiring, mordant, and, perhaps most of all, affectionate toward those who had to endure such trying circumstances ... Bowden performs a great service by pulling us back in time, to the dawn of an awful age when America was low and radical Islam triumphant." -- Reuel Marc Gerecht

In 1979, the Ayatollah Khomeini's followers abducted 66 American citizens and held them hostage for 444 days. The crisis that followed is a watershed in modern history. Acclaimed author Mark Bowden tells this shocking and unforgettable story through the eyes of the hostages, their Iranian captors and the American special operations soldiers and pilots who tried to end the crisis with one swift, violent strike. Guests of the Ayatollah is the epic account of the first American showdown with Islamic fundamentalism.