The Siege

A Six-Day Hostage Crisis and the Daring Special-Forces Operation That Shocked the World

By: Ben Macintyre

Narrated by: Ben Macintyre

“For six days, it was the Iranian Embassy on Princes Gate in London that riveted the world. . . . Macintyre’s superb reconstruction restores it to vivid, complex life.”—The Washington Post

A thrilling tick-tock recounting one of the most harrowing hostage situations and daring rescue attempts of our time—from the true-life espionage master and New York Times bestselling author of Operation Mincemeat and The Spy and the Traitor.

“[Ben Macintyre is] John le Carré’s nonfiction counterpart.”—The New York Times

As the American hostage crisis in Iran boiled into its seventh month in the spring of 1980, six heavily armed gunman barged into the Iranian embassy in London, taking twenty-six hostages. What followed over the next six days was an increasingly tense standoff, one that threatened at any moment to spill into a bloodbath.

Policeman Trevor Lock was supposed to have gone to the theater that night. Instead, he found himself overpowered and whisked into the embassy. The terrorists never noticed the gun hidden in his jacket. The drama that ensued would force him to find reserves of courage he didn’t know he had. The gunmen themselves were hardly one-dimensional—all Arabs, some highly educated, who hoped to force Britain to take their side in their independence battle against Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini. Behind the scenes lurked the brutal Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, who had bankrolled the whole affair as a salvo against Iran.

As police negotiators pressed the gunmen, rival protestors clashed violently outside the embassy, and as MI6 and the CIA scrambled for intelligence, Britain’s special forces strike team, the SAS, laid plans for a dangerous rescue mission. Inside, Lock and his fellow hostages used all the cunning they possessed to outwit and outflank their captors. Finally, on the sixth day, after the terrorists executed the embassy press attaché and dumped his body on the front doorstep, the SAS raid began, sparking a deadly high-stakes climax.

A story of ordinary men and women under immense pressure, The Siege takes listeners minute-by-thrilling-minute through an event that would echo across the next two decades and provide a direct historical link to the tragedy on 9/11. Drawing on exclusive interviews and a wealth of never-before-seen files, Macintyre brilliantly reconstructs a week in which every day minted a new hero and every second spelled the potential for doom.

©2024 Ben Macintyre (P)2024 Random House Audio

Another brilliant book by MacIntyre

Once again a thoroughly researched and wonderfully written account by this author. Fascinating beginning to end. Not just an action story but also an examination of people under stress and their range of reactions.

Great story

BM is a great storyteller, so well written, so much more interesting then tons of useless fiction about terror, keeps you on the edge of your seat from beginning to the end. Writer pays a lot of respect to the real heroes, I so enjoyed this book!

Fascinating

Never knew the details of this event and the significance of it to our modern world…great story telling as always by Ben McIntyre!

Gripping

This true story is full of amazing details.
The emotions of the captives and the gunman Are fascinating

Great book in all ways

The story being told is fascinating and one with which I was unfamiliar. Narrator was very good. Overall, much to like about this book.

As usual outstanding

I read everything Ben Macintyre writes. He is one of the very few authors that can also read his work. As usual Outstanding.

Ben Macintyre does it again!

Ben Macintyre’s The Siege is another fantastic tale that pulls you right into history. In this one, he tells the story of the hostage taking incident at the Iranian embassy in Britain. What I love about his writing is how he blends the big, complicated political events with the personal stories of the people who lived through it. You really feel like you’re there, experiencing the fear, resilience, and hope of those in the embassy. Although the SAS are featured in this story they are not the focal point rather you see the events unfolding through the eyes of the hostages and terrorists. Macintyre has a way of making history both informative and emotional, and The Siege is no exception. Macintyre does not disappoint!

very good

very good very good very good very good very good very good very good very good great enjoyed loved it want more like it

The master does it again!

The master of narrative espionage nonfiction does it again. Arguably MacIntyre’s best since Agent Sonya and most seat-of-the-pants thrilling since The Spy and The Traitor. A hard pounding, un-put-downable rollercoaster of thrills and poignant psychological insight into hostages, terrorists, police, and special forces. Plus you get to learn about the origins of tear gas and Stockholm syndrome among other many excellent discursions.

Who Dares, wins

I was a college student in Paris in May, 1980. This was front page news every day. This episode made people aware of the British SAS. This book is excellent.