Sunday, March 3, 2013

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

Guests of the Ayatollah
Guests of the Ayatollah: The Iran Hostage Crisis: The First Battle in America's War with Militant Islam
Mark Bowden (Author)
4.5 out of 5 stars(122)

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Middle Eastern

From the best-selling author of Black Hawk Down comes a riveting, definitive 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 fifty-two Americans hostage, and kept nearly all of them hostage for 444 days. In Guests of the Ayatollah, Mark Bowden tells this sweeping 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. Bowden dedicated five years to this research, including numerous trips to Iran and countless interviews with those involved on both sides. Guests of the Ayatollah is a detailed, brilliantly re-created, and suspenseful account of a crisis that gripped and ultimately changed the world.

  • Rank: #29350 in Books
  • Published on: 2007-03-13
  • Original language: English
  • Number of items: 1
  • Dimensions: 8.98" h x 1.50" w x 6.34" l, 2.02 pounds
  • Binding: Paperback
  • 704 pages

Description #1 by Alibris:


Description #2 by LoadLib:

From Publishers Weekly Bowden, whose Black Hawk Down won him a National Book Award nomination, turns his sights to the 1979 Iran hostage crisis. The audio abridgment is generally smooth, though it's often difficult to keep the cast of characters straight: 66 original hostages, dozens of Iranian captors and untold numbers of diplomats, bureaucrats and family members. On audio, such a dizzying array of stories and backstories can become confusing. Bowden is a capable and competent narrator; while there are no tour de force performances here, the reading is solid and consistent, with no annoying vocal tics or other distractions. The real bonus of the audio over the print version is the final disc, which contains several visual enhancements: a PDF map of the embassy compound; a map of Iran, with markings not only for cities but also the landing site of the ill-fated 1980 rescue mission; and, most impressively, almost nine minutes of footage from the Discovery Channel's four-part documentary Guests of the Ayatollah, featuring compelling interviews with surviving members of the rescue team. Copyright Te Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.FromMark Bowden proved he knows how to tell a gripping narrative in Black Hawk Down and Killing Pablo. In this latest book he takes on a story with more immediate topical consequence, with similar results. It's a "painstaking recreation of those 444 days" (Cleveland Plain Dealer), told mostly from the red, white, and blue perspective. Some Review ers knock Bowden for focusing almost exclusively on the American captives and providing little insight into the motives and emotions of the Iranian hosts. Others note a tendency to get caught up in the finer details of the hostage crisis. But the skill with which he tells his story trumps all such concerns.Copyright Te 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Description #3 by Alibris:


Days of God: The Revolution in Iran and Its Consequences

Days of God
Days of God: The Revolution in Iran and Its Consequences
James Buchan (Author)

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Middle Eastern

A myth-busting insider’s account of the Iranian Revolution of 1979 that destroyed US influence in the country and transformed the politics of the Middle East and the world. James Buchan was studying in Iran in the 1970s when the turmoil that culminated in the revolution began. Fluent in Persian, he draws on a wealth of Iranian records, memoirs, diaries and newspaper reports and his own knowledge and experience to provide the first comprehensive history of that tumultuous time. Buchan explores the roots of the revolution in the Shah’s regime and and explains how, even as the Iranian economy flourished and the country asserted its new power, beneath the surface deep anxieties were coming to a head. He shows how Ayatollah Khomeini, at first just one actor in the anti-Shah movement, by force of will came to dominate it. Buchan recounts the see-saw violence and passions that gripped the country and reached fever pitch when Khomeini returned from exile in February, 1979, launching a reign of terror that demolished opposition to his rule. He shows how the chaos in Iran provoked a re-alignment of forces in the Middle East, from the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan to the rise of Saddam Hussein’s Iraq and the development of Al-Qaida. A dramatic, scene-by-scene account with rich characterizations of the leading players as well as of the ordinary Iranians who were swept into the maelstrom, Days of God is history-writing at its vivid best.

  • Rank: #73312 in Books
  • Published on: 2013-09-10
  • Released on: 2013-09-10
  • Original language: English
  • Number of items: 1
  • Binding: Hardcover
  • 272 pages

Description #1 by eBay:

New * Author: Buchan, James ISBN: Binding: Hardcover Pages:

Description #2 by CDS Books and DVDS:

Americans' awareness of Islam and Muslims rose to seemingly unprecedented heights in the immediate aftermath of September 11, 2001, but this is not the first time they have dominated American public life. Once before, during the period of the Iranian revolution and hostage crisis of 1979 to 1981, Americans found themselves targeted as a consequence of a militant interpretation of Islam. Daniel Pipes wrote "In the Path of God" in response to those events, and the heightened interest in Islam they generated. His objective was to present an overview of the connection between in Islam and political power through history in a way that would explain the origins of hostility to Americans and the West. Its relevance to our understanding of contemporary events is self evident. Muslim antagonism toward the West is deeply rooted in historical experience. In premodern times, the Islamic world enjoyed great success, being on the whole more powerful and wealthier than their neighbors. About two hundred years ago, a crisis developed, as Muslims became aware of the West's overwhelming force and economic might. While they might have found these elements attractive, Muslims found European culture largely alien and distasteful. The resulting resistance to Westernization by Muslims has deep roots, has been more persistent than that of other peoples, and goes far to explain the deep Muslim reluctance to accept modern ways. In short, Muslims saw what the West had and wanted it too, but they rejected the methods necessary to achieve this. This, the Muslim trauma, has only worsened over the years. "Scholarly, far-ranging, and thoughtful... the debate is interesting, and Pipes has made a stimulating contribution to it."-"The New Republic" "Brilliant, authoritative... demonstrates encyclopedic knowledge of Muslim intellectual history... Few other writers have explained so lucidly such complex developments in Muslim history."-"The Washington Post" "He has resisted a widespread tendency to translate Muslim self-expression into social science jargon as unintelligible as any mosque harangue. His unadorned interpretation strikes a judicious balance between faithfulness to sources and clarity of presentation."-"The American Spectator" Daniel Pipes is director of the Middle East Forum and a columnist for the "New York Post" and the "Jerusalem Post." Among his books are "The Long Shadow: Culture and Politics in the Middle East" (published by Transaction), "Greater Syria: The History of an Ambition, Friendly Tyrants: An American Dilemma," and "The Rushdie Affair: The Novel, the Aftermath and the West." *Author: Pipes, Daniel *Binding Type: Paperback *Number of Pages: 373 *Publication Date: 2002/09/11 *Language: English *Dimensions: 9.18 x 6.02 x 0.85 inches

Description #3 by eBay:

author james buchan format hardback language english publication year 08 11 2012 subject history military subject 2 regional history ean 9781848540668 title days of god sku st 1848540663 product category books comics magazines about speedy hen ltd by continuing with this checkout and ordering from speedy hen you are accepting our current terms and conditions details of which can be found by clicking here author biography james buchan first visited iran nearly forty years ago a student of persian

Saturday, March 2, 2013

A Time to Betray: A Gripping True Spy Story of Betrayal, Fear, and Courage

A Time to Betray
A Time to Betray: A Gripping True Spy Story of Betrayal, Fear, and Courage
Reza Kahlili (Author)
4.6 out of 5 stars(199)

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A TIME TO BETRAY This exhilarating, award-winning memoir of a secret double life reveals the heart-wrenching story of a man who spied for the American government in the ranks of the notorious Revolutionary Guards of Iran, risking everything by betraying his homeland in order to save it. Reza Kahlili grew up in Tehran surrounded by his close-knit family and friends. But the enlightened Iran of his youth vanished forever, as Reza discovered upon returning home from studying computer science in the United States, when the revolution of 1979 ushered in Ayatollah Khomeini’s dark age of religious fundamentalism. Clinging to the hope of a Persian Renaissance, Reza joined the Ayatollah’s elite Revolutionary Guards. As Khomeini’s tyrannies unfolded, as fellow countrymen turned on each other, and after the deeply personal horrors he witnessed firsthand inside Evin Prison, a shattered and disillusioned Reza returned to America to dangerously become “Wally,” a spy for the CIA. In A Time to Betray, Reza not only relates his razor’s-edge, undercover existence from moment to heart-pounding moment as he supplies vital information from the Iran-Iraq War, the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, the Iran-Contra affair, and more; he also documents a chain of incredible events that culminates in a nation’s fight for freedom that continues to this very day, making this a timely and vital perspective on the future of Iran and the fate of the world.

  • Rank: #75098 in Books
  • Published on: 2013-02-12
  • Released on: 2013-02-12
  • Original language: English
  • Number of items: 1
  • Dimensions: .87" h x 5.97" w x 9.48" l, .80 pounds
  • Binding: Paperback
  • 352 pages

Description #1 by Barnes & Noble - Housing Works UBC NY:

Contributors: Reza Kahlili - Author. Format: Paperback

Description #2 by Barnes & Noble - Great Book Deals:

Contributors: Reza Kahlili - Author. Format: Paperback

Description #3 by Alibris:


Tested by Zion: The Bush Administration and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Tested by Zion
Tested by Zion: The Bush Administration and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
Elliott Abrams (Author)

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Middle Eastern

This book tells the full inside story of the Bush Administration and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Written by a top National Security Council officer who worked at the White House with Bush, Cheney, and Rice and attended dozens of meetings with figures like Sharon, Mubarak, the kings of Jordan and Saudi Arabia, and Palestinian leaders, it brings the reader inside the White House and the palaces of Middle Eastern officials. How did 9/11 change American policy toward Arafat and Sharon's tough efforts against the Second Intifada? What influence did the Saudis have on President Bush? Did the American approach change when Arafat died? How did Sharon decide to get out of Gaza, and why did the peace negotiations fail? In the first book by an administration official to focus on Bush and the Middle East, Elliott Abrams brings the story of Bush, the Israelis, and the Palestinians to life.

  • Rank: #20560 in Books
  • Published on: 2013-01-14
  • Original language: English
  • Number of items: 1
  • Dimensions: 1.41 pounds
  • Binding: Hardcover
  • 352 pages

Description #1 by Alibris:


Description #2 by Barnes & Noble:

Categories: Arab-Israeli conflict, Bush, George W. (George Walker) (1946-), Arab-Israeli conflict. Contributors: Elliott Abrams - Author. Format: Hardcover

Description #3 by Barnes & Noble - indoo:

Categories: Arab-Israeli conflict, Bush, George W. (George Walker) (1946-). Contributors: Elliott Abrams - Author. Format: Hardcover

Friday, March 1, 2013

The Way of the Knife: The CIA, a Secret Army, and a War at the Ends of the Earth

The Way of the Knife
The Way of the Knife: The CIA, a Secret Army, and a War at the Ends of the Earth
Mark Mazzetti (Author)

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Middle Eastern

A Pulitzer PrizeAwinning reporter’s riveting account of the transformation of the CIA and America’s special operations forces into man-hunting and killing machines in the world’s dark spaces: the new American way of war

The most momentous change in American warfare over the past decade has taken place away from the battlefields of Afghanistan and Iraq, in the corners of the world where large armies can’t go. The Way of the Knife is the untold story of that shadow war: a campaign that has blurred the lines between soldiers and spies and lowered the bar for waging war across the globe. America has pursued its enemies with killer drones and special operations troops; trained privateers for assassination missions and used them to set up clandestine spying networks; and relied on mercurial dictators, untrustworthy foreign intelligence services, and proxy armies.

This new approach to war has been embraced by Washington as a lower risk, lower cost alternative to the messy wars of occupation and has been championed as a clean and surgical way of conflict. But the knife has created enemies just as it has killed them. It has fomented resentments among allies, fueled instability, and created new weapons unbound by the normal rules of accountability during wartime.

Mark Mazzetti tracks an astonishing cast of characters on the ground in the shadow war, from a CIA officer dropped into the tribal areas to learn the hard way how the spy games in Pakistan are played to the chain-smoking Pentagon official running an off-the-books spy operation, from a Virginia socialite whom the Pentagon hired to gather intelligence about militants in Somalia to a CIA contractor imprisoned in Lahore after going off the leash.

At the heart of the book is the story of two proud and rival entities, the CIA and the American military, elbowing each other for supremacy. The CIA, created as a Cold War espionage service, is now more than ever a paramilitary agency ordered by the White House to kill off America’s enemiesAin the mountains of Pakistan and the deserts of Yemen, in the tumultuous civil wars of North Africa and the chaos of Somalia. For its part, the Pentagon has become more like the CIA, dramatically expanding spying missions everywhere. Sometimes, as with the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, their efforts have been perfectly coordinated. Other times, including the failed operations disclosed here for the first time, they have not. For better or worse, their struggles will define American national security in the years to come.

  • Rank: #13381 in Books
  • Published on: 2013-04-09
  • Released on: 2013-04-09
  • Original language: English
  • Number of items: 1
  • Dimensions: .0" h x .0" w x .0" l, 1.00 pounds
  • Binding: Hardcover
  • 400 pages

Description #1 by Barnes & Noble:

Categories: Middle East - Poltics & Government * General. Contributors: Mark Mazzetti - Author. Format: Hardcover

Description #2 by Barnes & Noble:

Categories: Middle East - Poltics & Government * General. Contributors: Mark Mazzetti - Author. Format: NOOK Book

Description #3 by Overstock.com:

A Pulitzer Prize?winning reporters explosive account of the transformation of the CIA and Americas special forces into competing covert manhunting and killing operations?the new American way of war Osama bin Ladens demise was merely one sensational moment in the first decade of Americas shadow war, the transformation of the national security apparatus into a machine calibrated for manhunting operations. Beyond the ?big wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, America has pursued its enemies with killer robots and special operations troops; trained privateers for assassination missions and used them to set up clandestine spying networks; and relied on mercurial dictators, unreliable foreign intelligence services, and ragtag proxy armies. The shadow war has blurred the lines between soldiers and spies, lowered the bar for waging war around the globe, and changed for good how America fights its battles: This is the new way of war. A new military-intelligence complex has emerged. The CIA, created as a Cold War espionage service, is now more than ever a paramilitary agency ordered by the White House to kill off Americas enemies: from the sustained bombing campaign in the mountains of Pakistan and the deserts of Yemen and North Africa to the simmering clan wars in Somalia. For its part, the Pentagon has turned into the CIA, dramatically expanding spying missions in the dark spaces of US foreign policy, like Iran. The countries where radical groups have carved out wide, remote swaths of territory are often the very places most openly hostile to American intervention. Where the soldiers cant go, the United States sends drones, proxies, and guns for hire. Pulitzer Prize winner Mark Mazzetti examines these secret wars over the past decade, tracking key characters from the intelligence and military communities across the world. Among the characters we meet in The Way of ...

Mossad: The Greatest Missions of the Israeli Secret Service

Mossad
Mossad: The Greatest Missions of the Israeli Secret Service
Michael Bar-Zohar (Author), Nissim Mishal (Author)
4.6 out of 5 stars(45)

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Middle Eastern

"This book tells what should have been known and isn't—that Israel's hidden force is as formidable as its recognized physical strength."
— Israeli President Shimon Peres

For decades, Israel's renowned security arm, the Mossad, has been widely recognized as the best intelligence service in the world. In Mossad, authors Michael Bar-Zohar and Nissim Mishal take us behind the closed curtain with riveting, eye-opening, boots-on-the-ground accounts of the most dangerous, most crucial missions in the agency's 60-year history. These are real Mission: Impossible true stories brimming with high-octane action—from the breathtaking capture of Nazi executioner Adolph Eichmann to the recent elimination of key Iranian nuclear scientists. Anyone who is fascinated by the world of international espionage, intelligence, and covert "Black-Ops" warfare will find Mossad electrifying reading.

  • Rank: #7336 in Books
  • Published on: 2012-11-06
  • Released on: 2012-11-06
  • Original language: English
  • Number of items: 1
  • Dimensions: 1.29" h x 6.40" w x 9.28" l, 1.40 pounds
  • Binding: Hardcover
  • 400 pages

Description #1 by Alibris:


Description #2 by LangtonInfo.com:

Drawn from intensive research and exclusive interviews with Israeli leaders and Mossad agents, this gripping history of the best--and most enigmatic--intelligence service in the world brings to life the heroic operatives who risked everything in the face of unimaginable danger. 30000 first printing.

Description #3 by eBay:

all our items our feedback faqs about us contact us item description mossad the greatest missions of the israeli secret service ean 978 0062123404 isbn 10 0 062123408 ref bnt 0062123408 title mossad the greatest missions of the israeli secret service author bar zohar michael mishal nissim publisher ecco press published 06 november 2012