Guests of the Ayatollah Audiobook By Mark Bowden cover art

Guests of the Ayatollah

 Preview

Get 30 days of Standard free

Auto-renews at $8.99/mo after 30-day trial. Cancel anytime
Try for $0.00
More purchase options

Guests of the Ayatollah

By: Mark Bowden
Narrated by: Mark Bowden
Try for $0.00

$8.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $19.49

Buy for $19.49

On November 4, 1979, a group of radical Islamist students, inspired by revolutionary Iranian leader Ayatollah Khomeini, stormed the U.S. embassy in Tehran. They took fifty-two Americans hostage and kept nearly all of them captive 444 days.

The Iran hostage crisis was a watershed moment in American history. It was America's first showdown with Islamic fundamentalism, a confrontation at the forefront of American policy to this day. It was also a powerful dramatic story that captivated the American people, launched yellow-ribbon campaigns, made celebrities of the hostage's families, and crippled the reelection campaign of President Jimmy Carter.

Mark Bowden tells this sweeping story through the eyes of the hostages, their radical, naïve captors, the soldiers sent on the impossible mission to free them, and the diplomats working to end the crisis. Taking listeners from the Oval Office to the hostages' cells, Guests of the Ayatollah is a remarkably detailed, brilliantly re-created, and suspenseful account of a crisis that gripped and ultimately changed the world.©2006 Mark Bowden; (P)2006 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved. Audioworks is an imprint of Simon & Schuster Audio Division Civil Rights & Liberties International Relations Freedom & Security Politics & Government Middle East History & Theory Iran Political Science War
Thorough Account • Well-researched History • Excellent Narration • Fascinating Details • Informative Content • Great Job

Highly rated for:

All stars
Most relevant
Good background on what really went on. Clearly the hostages were mentally and physically abused.

Interesting details not previously understood.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This book is fascinating- about an episode that would be a minor historical event except that our troubles with Iran are still on-going (and Iran keeps taking hostages). The author reads the book himself and at times the story reads like a thrilling spy novel in an exotic place (even though many readers will know generally what happened)... But be forewarned, any story about the mistreatment of a group of hostages for more than a year can be sad and depressing. I enjoyed the many insights into each of the hostages' personalities and their unique ways of coping with their captivity, but there were mornings when after listening for an hour during my commute that I was left sad and angry. It takes a good book to affect me this way, and this is a good book about a history we all should know as we veer towards yet another confrontation with the mullahs of Iran

At times thrilling

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This book is thorough and paints a clear picture of the ordeal the American hostages went through in Iran. The epilogue clearly explains why I believe there is hope for the region, if only we can get past our governments and work together person to person.

Excellent read.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I really enjoyed this book. I got the hardcover version in high school, but wanted to listen to it as I drove. Mark does a great job of seamlessly weaving together the accounts of the hostages. His narration is a perfect addition to an already great book. There was talks of NatGeo/Fox 21 Television writing a documentary off this book. I hope that’s still the case.

A wonderfully detailed account!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The amount of detail in the writing of this dark chapter was amazing. I felt like I was there, and I certainly wanted to get to know the hostages more.

Relive the story

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews