I decided to read this book because I have read prior writings by Mark Bowden and because I was 12 years old when the Iranian hostage crisis occurred. I remembered some of the events but wanted to know more. The book is very well written and seems well-researched. Bowden does a very good job of making you feel like you are right there with the hostages. I have recently become interested in Iran as a result of the U.S.-Iraq War and the recent turmoil in Iran related to the Iranian presidential election. This book has added to my understanding of these current events. The only criticism that I have is that I wish the book provided more historical information about Iran prior to the hostage crisis.

This is a long book, yet Mark Bowden manages to keep the pace going and provide an insider's view into the Iran Hostage Crisis. He manages to convey both the day to day story and the larger picture very effectively.

This is an excellent book and it gives an objective, nearly complete look at the hostage crisis in Iran. It is a compelling chapter in American and Iranian history and this book tells the story so well and from both sides point of view that it should be assigned as a supplemental book in any history course that covers American/Iranian history of the period. While some will complain about the detail involved in the story of the hostages' day-to-day existence while held captive in Iran as "boring," it is a necessary component of the book. After all, this was a crisis that lasted 444 days and understanding the hostages' long-term suffering and boredom is an important part of the story. I also did not find that aspect of the book boring, but I can see where some certainly would lose some interest. However, the book did fall short of perfection. It grieves me to give the book four stars instead of five, but the author missed an important component of the story. While Islam is certainly mentioned and discussed, there should have been a chapter with some of the developmental background of the Ayatollah's early life and an objective discussion of Twelver, Shiite Islam that played such a large part in the Martyrdom complex mentioned in the book and the prevalent belief in predestination that Allah controls all and all will happen as Allah wills along with the end-times death-cult aspect of Iranian Twelver Shiite Islam. It is these aspects of Twelver Shiite Islam that led the hardliners to so ignore the practical implications of their conduct and to take such a ruinous path that continues today with Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons. The book offers no discussion of the full beliefs of the fundamentalists like the Ayatollah that controlled the outcome of the crisis. In fact, some of the hostages themselves are quoted making statements about Islam that reflect what I call an incomplete understanding of Islam. For example, one hostage derides his jailer as not acting like Muhammad because, as the hostage believed, Muhammad had benevolently spared everyone in Mecca when he took the city. While such perceptions of Muhammad are not unusual among many Muslims and such beliefs are certainly readily peddled upon ignorant non-Muslims, the reality is that Muhammad had some critics killed when he took Mecca and the mass conversion to Islam was a result of his large army and fear of what would happen if they did not convert to Islam. Moreover, Muhammad committed many atrocities and for one of the Americans to plead with his jailer to be more like Muhammad was quite ignorant as a fundamentalist Muslim, more well schooled in Muhammad's full history, may well have said OK and chopped off his neck just as Muhammad had done to hundreds of captives. This book, as the full title indicates, was about America's first encounter with militant Islam, but there is no attempt to explain militant Islam and the result is that readers will not obtain the full understanding of what drove the rabid hatred of America and why events that happened decades prior loomed so large in the minds of Iranians. Just what was it in the religion of the Iranians that made them so fervent in their hatred and so ready to believe any rumor about the Americans? It was at its core the influence of Islam on the culture upon which the Ayatollah and his supporters so capitalized. This book is in many ways symbolic of why the crisis occurred and why even today so many of our leaders have a poor understanding of what drives Iranian behavior. It is the inability to explore, discover and admit that real Islam drove the hostage crisis and that the moderates are the ones that have hijacked the religion. One more chapter added to the book discussing the foregoing topics and this book would have been the author's Magnum Opus and a perfect recording of the crisis that would be read, and justifiably so, by many generations to come. Even with its errors of omission, this is still a wonderful book and I suspect that it may remain in print for a long time.

Mark Bowden's terrific book Guests of the Ayatollah is first rate original source history - that is where the author can rely on interviews with eye witnesses for his information. In this case Bowden seems to have talked with everyone involved - from the hostages to their kidnappers. ( I agree with President Carter that it is totally wrong of the media to constantly refer to the wild eyed youth who did this as students.)

Bowden does an admirable job of telling a story that takes place in many locations - Tehran, the White House, the field in Iran where the desperate rescue attempt went so tragically wrong. He depicts how different people respond differently to the stress of imprisonment. Bowden even lets the Iraqis have their say - not that he agrees with them, but we get a fair indication of what their grievances were with the Shah of Iran.

Of course, after 9/11, the Iranian hostage crisis seems almost quaint. While Bowden does a great job on the scene in Tehran, he is less strong at analysis of how this "First Battle in America's War with Militant Islam" led to 9/11, Iraq and Afghanistan.
This is, like the author's Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War a great job of reporting.

A very informative book on the Iran Hostage Crisis.

Worthy of a read, however, maybe not a purchase.

Lots of stuff in here I had forgotten about, and more details I never realized. Initially, because there were so many people involved in the story, it was a bit hard to follow. But overall, it's fascinating to read about all the hostages and their different situations, how the fared, what they were thinking, and how America was reacting. I particularly was intersted in all the details about Desert One. What an unfortunate fiasco, but the way it was micro-managed its clear it was doomed to fail. Even thoug the outcome is well known, this was still very gripping.

This book is essentially a detailed repetition of the same set of circumstances from the point of view of each hostage. It's a good book but if it was twice as long and included more details of how the crisis impacted more people, it could have been a great book. Perhaps Bowden is saving something for another book.

Bowden writes another great text with solid research and scholarly analysis. This is an exiting look at the 444 days of the hostage crisis. It is not another political blame book, but an honest approach to the actual events. Bowden has an ability to immerse the reader in the unfolding events as if he or she is there, while being able to provide a clear and well reasoned history.
This book also has the benefit of being very timely and shed's a lot of light on Iranian culture and modern times.

We too often forget. It has been less than 10 years since 9/11 and many people have forgotten that tragic event. 1979 is almost 30 years ago and half of my office has no idea what we went through with this crisis. I still remember cutting high school to attend the parade, so when I heard about this book, I knew I had to read it. It did not disappoint, it only confirmed my feelings about Carter, the administration, the worldwide ignorance and the radical forces at play. Read this book.....

I remember the date very well, 4Nov79. Surprised to see 7Nov79 on the dust jacket. Reading the fine print, I received an "uncorrected draft copy" that was not for resale. No idea how that managed to find its way to my door.

In any event, looking beyond the misspelled words and repeated paragraphs in my copy, the author captured the daily torture/torment that the Americans hostages endured for 444 at the hands of "the student protestors". I was hoping for some insight into why this happened, what "the students" hoped to gain, why it lingered, and why it ended on the day of Ronald Regan's inauguration. The book satisfied my questions. Unsure how the author managed to compile all this information from the hostages in the minutest detail, but it was there. I would not have wanted to retell it if I had endured this ordeal.

Four hundred forty-four days. Think back to what you were doing 444 days ago. Think about everything you've seen and done, the people you've met, fallen in love with, fallen out of favor with during this time. Now imagine being held against your will for that long. Imagine being locked away, forced to not speak to anyone, the fear of brutality and execution hanging over your head for those 444 days. Can't do it? I bet neither could the 50+ US diplomats held hostage by radical Iranian students over the entire year of 1980 (plus a little on either side). Mark Bowden's "Guests of the Ayatollah" does an outstanding job of conveying just what such an experience would be like.

While Bowden's tone is journalistic and fairly neutral, he pulls no punches. The good, the bad, and the ugly on all sides are on full display throughout the book. The ignorance of the Iranian students, fueled by dogma and naivety, feeds their brutality and kindness alike. The stoic individualism of the American hostages feeds their capitulation, as well as their defiance. The utter insanity of the situation as a whole hamstrings the US administration and greatly contributes to the failure of the inevitable rescue mission. In the end, though, the book illustrates that there were no winners and nothing but losers from this dark time.

On November 4, 1979, Islamic students overtook the US embassy in Tehran, taking most of the diplomats and staff hostage. What should have been a brief outburst of violence quickly devolved into a standoff between the West and a new breed of government that placed God ahead of all else. Bowden makes it abundantly clear that both sides could have ended the siege with simple actions: On the Iranian side, all it would have taken was for the Ayatollah Khomeini to proclaim the freedom of the hostages, while on the American side, extradition of the less-than-squeaky-clean shah back to Iran would have sealed the deal. Unfortunately, as Bowden also clearly explains, neither action was feasible given the intricacies of both domestic and international politics at the time. The entire situation was a fiasco from the start, and only ever got resolved by the outside factors of the Iraq-Iran War and the election of Ronald Reagan.

"Guests of the Ayatollah" is told from three interweaving perspectives. The hostages are a blob of characters, difficult to keep track of with only a handful being instantly recognizable upon their mention. But this is a good thing, for it really hits home the dehumanization that occurred to them during their captivity. The range of actions and emotions by this blob assists the reader in empathizing with the plight of the captives. One can alternately understand both the defiance of Michael Metrinko and the outright capitulation of Joe Subic. On the other side, the most striking aspect of the hostage takers is their naive ignorance. Whether this was due to youth, religious brainwashing, or some other factor isn't 100% clear; Bowden only manages to track down a handful of them to get their stories in the book's epilogue. Paranoia, however, clearly played a part; the repeated references to the embassy as a "den of spies" shows this. In the end, one can't help but come away with the impression that the hostage takers were nothing more than children being strung along and played by the puppet masters of the Iranian regime. On that front, as well as the parallel one of the Carter administration, the overwhelming impression is one of futility. Both sides essentially had their hands tied by the events of the day. The purges taking place in Iran kept the moderates there from speaking out, leaving the handful of individuals willing to negotiate having to do so in secret. Also, their novice diplomatic skills kept them shifting the conditions of release, even right up until the end. Khomeini, on the other hand, is strangely absent from all negotiations; but, as stated earlier, Bowden clearly shows that the cleric was the true puppet master with the ability to end the incident with but a wave of his hand. Why he never did this is sadly unexplored. In America, Carter was fighting challengers from both parties, causing him to tread lightly. But, more importantly, it was ultimately the sheer lack of options available to the president that caused the situation to go on for as long as it did. The communication breakdown between the two states combined with the infancy of the uber-military team, Delta Force, left Carter holding the bag in what turned out to be a deciding factor in his downfall.

All in all, "Guests of the Ayatollah" does an excellent job of conveying the intricate horrors involved in the Iranian hostage crisis. From the president down through the military men involved in the rescue mission to the hostages themselves, Bowden paints a vivid picture of life during these 444 days. He's got another winner on his hand.

Reads like a thriller novel, but is 100% true. If you are completely unfamiliar with the history of Iran from about 1945-1979 you should probably spend at least a few minutes learning about that before reading this book. The book jumps right into the drama of the hostage crisis without providing much background.

I listened to the audiobook. The pros of the audiobook version are that it is skillfully read by the author of the book. The con is that the audiobook is abridged.

Reads like a thriller novel, but is 100% true. If you are completely unfamiliar with the history of Iran from about 1945-1979 you should probably spend at least a few minutes learning about that before reading this book. The book jumps right into the drama of the hostage crisis without providing much background.

Mark Bowden is a genius at bringing intensive historical events to life and Guests of the Ayatollah doesn't disappoint. While easy enough to step back and look at the boiling pot of the clash of cultures and paranoia that led to the takeover. However, his ability to bring to light the individual stories, including tracking down the hostage takers gave an incredible insight into the mindset of the key players. I was particularly fascinated by his ability to not just focus on the takeover and Desert One pieces, but also highlight the more interesting vignettes from the 444 days.

Bowden is a great reader for his own material, which only makes the audio book more interesting. If you're a fan of Bowden or want to understand more about militant Isalam, this is a can't-miss.

When the American Embassy in Iran was overrun by radical students, I like most Americans followed the story very closely. This book was an eye opening experience as to what happened on the inside. How the hostages were mistreated, starved, and beaten by radicals. But, they were also treated with kindness by some of the radicals, which I had never heard before. The only fault that I have with the book is that it seemed to finish up much more quickly than it started and you feel a little cheated. Overall a good book. I admire how the hostages handled themselves and how they were able to continue on with their lives when they got released.

Guests of the Ayatollah presents the extensively researched, impelling non-fiction style for which Bowden has become widely acclaimed through his other best sellers. As someone who has read other Bowden books, I felt Guests of the Ayatollah is his best book to date.

In this book, Bowden provides the intense, all-inclusive details from start to finish of the 444 day Iranian Hostage Crisis. The reader is taken inside the holding cell of each hostage and witnesses in vivid detail the daily routines, abuse, and emotions each hostage endured during their stay. I quickly became a fan of certain hostages such as diplomat Michael Metrinko, who so adamantly despised his captivity and insulted his captors for which he suffered solitary confinement and severe beatings up to the 444th day. While Bowden shares the heroic stories of the hostages, he doesn't disregard certain hostages who fellow captives felt were cowards and swine.

Bowden has become widely acclaimed for his ability to investigate the subject of each book and then transpose his research into dramatic details for readers, and Guests of the Ayatollah is no exception to his method. Where Guests of the Ayatollah differs from other Bowden books is in its significant focus on the Iranian and American political environments during the hostage crisis. Bowden provides an in depth summary of the Carter administrations options and its secretive negotiations with what still existed of the volatile Iranian government. Rather than provide his opinion on the performance of the Carter administration, Bowden does a fine job of avoiding personal bias, and allows the reader to reach an informed conclusion in regard to the politics surrounding the Hostage Crisis.

Some reviewers seem to feel that Bowden provides justification for the actions of the hostage takers. I don't believe this is accurate given that Bowden spends very little time examining the Shah's government other then to acknowledge America's continued support for the Pahlavi government up to the revolution. I found that on the controversial issues Bowden provides the facts and allows the reader draw his/her own conclusions. However, Bowden offers one prevailing conclusion that the Iranian Hostage Crisis established the power of the mullahocrasy in Iran, which runs the government to this day. The epilogue goes on to examine whether or not the hostage crisis benefited Iran, and concludes the establishment of the mullahocracy has done more harm to the country.

If you enjoyed Killing Pablo, you will definitely enjoy Guests of the Ayatollah. If you liked Black Hawk Down you will also enjoy this book, though it doesn't assert the amount of focus to military operations given in Black Hawk Down. If you have not read anything by Bowden, you should, and Guests of the Ayatollah is a wonderful starting point.

Bowden does a superb job of putting together a story as exciting as any spy novel I've ever read. He intertwines the experiences of the various characters involved so smoothly that you think he must have created the entire plot himself. And the fact that it's nonfiction makes the book that much more gripping. I found myself learning a great deal about the politics of the Middle East without having to wade through another standard, heavy historical text. Great book!

Mark Bowden's "Guests of the Ayatollah: The First Battle in America's War with Militant Islam" is an excellent account of one of the lowpoints in American foreign policy: the taking of American hostages by Iranian students in 1979. Bowden's meticulously researched narrative is the definitive story of the ordeals that the hostages went through, although he does not cover the diplomatic (and other) aspects of the story as well.

Bowden's story is based heavily on interviews with the hostages and he gives personal, detailed accounts of the hostage-taking and their daily lives. Most of Bowden's book focuses on the first few months of the captivity, and he spends a lot of time on the events on the day they were taken captive and the immediate days afterward. He also does a good job describing the military's training for and execution of the failed rescues mission.

Although this is a very good book, I do have a couple of criticisms: Bowden's narrative, while detailed and flowing, is short on "historical details." For example, Bowden never tells us in his text the date of the initial hostage-taking (you have to read the caption to one of the pictures to find out that it was November 4, 1979). He is also quick to defend Carter's inaction during the crisis by saying that Carter did everything that he could, which I found unconvincing.

Reading this book made me mad - mad at the Iranians, mad at our government's inability to do anything, mad at the couple of hostages who cooperated with their captors, mad at the minority of family members who worked against our interests during the crisis. Some of my earliest memories of "current events" were of this crisis, and failed rescue attempt, and the announcement of their release during Reagan's inauguration. This book is a reminded of what many of us have forgotten. For this reason, if no other, this book should be read by every American. Thankfully, Bowden has written an excellent book to give us all even more reasons to read it.

Mark Bowden, best known as the author of "Black Hawk Down," has written another powerful book. This time his attention is turned towards the Iranian hostage crisis of 1979-1981. Many readers will find his account moving, troubling, and a little thought provoking...all at the same time.

For better or for worse, the bulk of this book focuses on experiences of those on the "front lines" of this crisis. Much of his text focuses on the experiences of the hostages. It gets a little repetitive, not too much, but it also serves a purpose of communicating that the tedium of being a hostage. Much of this material is fairly standard stuff, available in other books. What makes his book new, is that he has visited Iran and interviewed many of the Iranians involved in this incident and presents their perspective ill-informed, strange and slightly wacky as it may be. He gives them an honest airing, but uses a rather restrained presentation of the evidence to shoot down their arguments when these offer themselves to investigation.

He also discusses the efforts of the military to put together a rescue mission. He does such a good job of telling this story and at times it looks like the mission might work. Despite his background writing "Blackhawk Down," Bowden is not in his element discussing military issues. There are some important nuances he misses, like the differences between flying over land and water, and why Marine pilots flying Navy helicopters had different approaches than the U.S. Army to this mission. Military professionals might be disappointed, but the general public will probably not even notice.

What is more noticeable is Bowden limited description of "big picture" issues. He draws all his information from interviews with participants, memoirs, and contemporary news accounts. As a result, he offers no description of geopolitical issues in the Middle East, and his coverage of the rather weak, inept diplomacy of the Carter Administration is quite limited, giving the President to a large extent, a pass on this incident. His argument that this crisis was America's first confrontation with extremist elements of Islam seems weak and in any case is not particularly well developed.

Finally, and this is no small thing, this book reads well...very well. The organization and the quality of his prose make it so easy to read. Chapters are often only a few pages long. The end result is a compelling book that is difficult to put down.

Fascinating book! Really hard to put it down. Lots of behind the scene stories of the hostages, hostage takers, President Carter, Delta team and many others. Helps you understand why Iran is in the state it's in today.

This book provides an excellent explanation of the crisis, which partly cost Jimmy Carter the election and where America should have conducted its first "War On Terror" (perhaps, that would have dealt with the current "president" of Iran and the others with him sooner, rather than later, and he wouldn't have come to the U.S.). True, the U.S. shouldn't have let the Shah in, but it wasn't right for the "students", including the current "president" of Iran to take people hostage. I applaud all those who stood up to these thugs, and Bowden gives great detail. He also provides excellent notes and descriptions of what happened to the hostages, after their release. I have my own thoughts about what should have happened, after our people arrived safely in the U.S., but I won't go into them here. Suffice it to say that if anyone wants to understand why we are having the troubles we are with Iran, read this. I wouldn't have wanted to have been in former President Carter's position. I think it was a betrayal, after what the hostages went through, that the U.S., in the succeeding administration, did "deals" with these people, and admitting this "terrorist thug" [Ahmenejad] into our country recently; a former hostage taker, but this is an example how our political system works. [Sometimes, we're our own worst enemy.] Anyway, an important book.

The author is correct in his use of the term "inapt" for the phrase "war on terror." It was indeed inapt prior to 9/11 and certainly was not in use in 1979. But it's appropriate use since 9/11 means that finally after nearly 30 years we are taking the threat seriously and have finally begun to wage this necessary war.

An excellent blow by blow account of the Iranian hostage crisis. Bowden's bias knocks a star off. He basically sides with the hostage takers--describing them as just a bunch of goofy misguided kids engaged in mere horseplay. The hostages weren't tortued and beaten that bad, and plus they "mistakenly" referred to their captors as "ragheads." How ignorant! Perhaps Bowden thinks they should have stayed there a little longer just to make up for such transgressions?

In an attempt to make Jimmy Carter look competent, he wisely spends little time on the President's futile attempts to resolve the crisis--keeping the focus on the hostages themselves. But it's still a factual account--and the facts don't lie; Carter was a horrible negotiator. It was only a year into the crisis he figured out what "contingency" meant. Bowden's sly parallel of Ronald Reagan with the Ayatollah at the end of the book is also not lost.

What more could there be to say about a crisis that happened a quarter century ago? As it turns out, there are some very important things to say about it, and Mark Bowden's masterful history of that crisis says them.

First, this is an absolutely first-rate "you are there" account of what the American hostages went through as Iran descended into chaos and near madness after the ouster of the shah. You will literally feel their anger, fear, and depression, and you will feel their pride when they can defy or denigrate their captors, even fleetingly. However, you will feel the smugness and religious certainty of their captors, too. Make no mistake: Bowden clearly sees the American diplomats as victims of an outrageous act; there is no moral relativity here.

Second, the book is thought-provoking in ways I didn't expect. The ostensible trigger for the crisis was the decision by the US to admit the shah to this country for treatment of the cancer that would eventually kill him. However, that decision was sold to President Carter by his Secretary of State, Cyrus Vance, who in turn was sold on it by Henry Kissinger and David Rockefeller. As the years roll on, it's interesting how many disastrous US foreign policy decisions come back to Kissinger.

Further, the CIA was no better then at understanding and predicting events in the Islamic world than they are now. Shortly before the crisis erupted, the agency reported that the religious radicals would soon be relegated to the background there, so the US could deal with an emerging secular state with confidence. In reality, the country degenerated into a hurricane of religious nuttiness that soon swept aside all of the secular leaders. Quite literally, no one at all was really in charge of anything in Iran, and that's the reason the crisis dragged on for over a year.

This brings us to the role of President Carter. Nearly everyone felt at the time that he was too weak and vacillating to resolve the crisis. Not so; he tirelessly attempted to find a way to deal with the situation, but every attempt failed when the connection at the Iranian end fell apart. No one could have done much more, which is why presidential candidate Ronald Reagan continually criticized Carter, but never offered a word of explanation about what he would do.

The failed rescue attempt was blamed on Carter, too, but as Bowden makes clear, it had little chance of succeeding, mostly because the equipment available at the time was inadequate, and the situation was impossible. Even if Delta Force had made it to Tehran, it's likely that most or all of the hostages and rescuers would have died in the operation. Carter and the troops deserve credit for daring the attempt, even in the face of near-certain failure.

This book is must reading as the authoritative account of the first battle in the war with the "Islamofascists." And it's worth reading as a rich account of the courage that the hostages and their would-be rescuers displayed in very trying circumstances.

What more could there be to say about a crisis that happened a quarter century ago? As it turns out, there are some very important things to say about it, and Mark Bowden's masterful history of that crisis says them.

First, this is an absolutely first-rate "you are there" account of what the American hostages went through as Iran descended into chaos and near madness after the ouster of the shah. You will literally feel their anger, fear, and depression, and you will feel their pride when they can defy or denigrate their captors, even fleetingly. However, you will feel the smugness and religious certainty of their captors, too. Make no mistake: Bowden clearly sees the American diplomats as victims of an outrageous act; there is no moral relativity here.

Second, the book is thought-provoking in ways I didn't expect. The ostensible trigger for the crisis was the decision by the US to admit the shah to this country for treatment of the cancer that would eventually kill him. However, that decision was sold to President Carter by his Secretary of State, Cyrus Vance, who in turn was sold on it by Henry Kissinger and David Rockefeller. As the years roll on, it's interesting how many disastrous US foreign policy decisions come back to Kissinger.

Further, the CIA was no better then at understanding and predicting events in the Islamic world than they are now. Shortly before the crisis erupted, the agency reported that the religious radicals would soon be relegated to the background there, so the US could deal with an emerging secular state with confidence. In reality, the country degenerated into a hurricane of religious nuttiness that soon swept aside all of the secular leaders. Quite literally, no one at all was really in charge of anything in Iran, and that's the reason the crisis dragged on for over a year.

This brings us to the role of President Carter. Nearly everyone felt at the time that he was too weak and vacillating to resolve the crisis. Not so; he tirelessly attempted to find a way to deal with the situation, but every attempt failed when the connection at the Iranian end fell apart. No one could have done much more, which is why presidential candidate Ronald Reagan continually criticized Carter, but never offered a word of explanation about what he would do.

The failed rescue attempt was blamed on Carter, too, but as Bowden makes clear, it had little chance of succeeding, mostly because the equipment available at the time was inadequate, and the situation was impossible. Even if Delta Force had made it to Tehran, it's likely that most or all of the hostages and rescuers would have died in the operation. Carter and the troops deserve credit for daring the attempt, even in the face of near-certain failure.

This book is must reading as the authoritative account of the first battle in the war with the "Islamofascists." And it's worth reading as a rich account of the courage that the hostages and their would-be rescuers displayed in very trying circumstances.

For those interested in history and especially the history of the relationship between Iran and the U.S., this book is essential. This book is well written, fine storytelling, and appropriately detailed without belaboring the point. Probably the best one source history of the hostage crisis. Some may find it a little too charitable to President Carter, but it appears to be a fair portrayal.

I have read several of Mr. Bowden's books but I'd say this is his best one to date. I was expecting something along the lines of Black Hawk Down with a minute-by-minute account of the action. But the hostage crisis in Iran really wasn't the same type of situation. What I wasn't expecting was a personal account of what it was like to be a hostage in Tehran in 1979. I was only 10 at the time and all I really remember is Ted Koppel, the Nightline count of days in captivity and America's "inability" or "unwillingness" to strike back (and its impact on the 1980 Presidential election). In my mind I kept thinking "What type of hostage would I be"? Would I become docile and unemotional? Would I give up hope? Would I relish in harassing the guards (plenty of hilarious accounts of this in the book!), even if it meant brutal physical attacks and other physical discomforts? Mr. Bowden takes you much deeper into the people in this book than any other of his I have read. There's not the constant adrenaline-pumping action as in Black Hawk Down but still plenty, from the taking of the embassy to the aborted rescue mission. You are really taken into the minds of the hostages, their captors and President Carter and Co. This book gave me an appreciation for the delicate situation in which the US was in. Not striking back seemed weak, but who and what could we strike? A lethal response seemed very likely to result in the hostages being executed. I am fully aware of the sacrifices our Armed Forces members bear in defense America, of freedom and democracy, but the actions of Delta Force and others in the daring rescue mission make me love 'em even more. The author also provides a glimpse into what some of the captors were trying to accomplish and why. A thoroughly researched book which offers a rich and comprehensive view of a major event in our (and the world's) history. Don't let that put you off, it's highly readable and I found it difficult to put down.

A number of other reviews of Guests of the Ayatollah, by Mark Bowden, have commented on the repetitive nature of the day in, day out activities of the 51 American Embassy hostages In Iran. I don't know if this is true on not, but it definitely is NOT in the 10 hour abridged CD, narrated by... Mark Bowden. Bowden and his editors have pulled together enough of the individual stories of the hostages to make this an exciting "page" (or CD) turner. From the initial take-over of the US Embassy, to the daily grind and trials of the hostages, to the efforts of the political and military branches of Carter's administration, Bowden puts together a whale of a tale... and it's all true.

On the (slightly) negative side, I really wanted to hear about what the former hostages are doing now. How has this experience changed their lives? I suspect this is in the book, and I will look it up. There was, in the CD version, a follow-up for many of the hostage-takers. In particular, I wanted to know more about "Screaming Mary." Unfortunately, her successes in the current Iranian government leave me rattled.

So thank you, Mark Bowden, for condensing this disturbing chapter of American-Iranian history into a shocking and sad tale.

I read the book a year ago and purchased the book on CD just recently. I found the CD set informative and well read by the author. This period in American history is so relevant to our international missions. The story should be shared with American adolescents to understand what happened and why. It could help them understand why we do not have a mission in Iran and the interactions of the U.S, Algeria, Iran, and even Iraq to some degree. It also better identifies the issues with the Carter Administration and how nightly news evolved.

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.

Another interesting, informative and well written book by Mark Bowden. He is able to gather reams and reams of ino and put it into an easy to read format.

I couldn't put it down. I think it really sets the reader up with a better understanding of Iran in the 20th century, and how things have gotten so out of hand there now 26 years after the ordeal ended.