Author:Antonio Mendez,Matt Baglio
Argo by Antonio Mendez and Matt Baglio - the declassified CIA story behind the Oscar-winning film
WINNER OF 'BEST PICTURE' AT THE ACADEMY AWARDS, THE BAFTAS AND THE GOLDEN GLOBES
Tehran, November 1979. Militant students stormed the American embassy and held sixty Americans captive for a gruelling 444 days. But until now the CIA has never revealed the twist to the Iran Hostage Crisis: six Americans escaped.
The escape plot was run by Antonio Mendez, head of the CIA's extraction team and a master of disguise. Mendez came up with an idea so daring and potentially foolish that it seemed destined for Hollywood... and indeed it was. He invented a fake sci-fi film called 'Argo' (from the actual name of the CIA mission, a reference to Jason and the Argonauts). After announcing the production to the movie industry, Mendez put together a team of real 1970s Hollywood actors, directors and producers - along with covert CIA officers. They would travel to revolutionary Iran under a foreign film visa, and while 'scouting locations' throughout the country they would track down the six Americans who were hiding out. After giving them false identities as part of the film crew, they would spirit them back across the border.
One part 'Ocean's 11' and another part 'Black Hawk Down', Mendez's mind-bogglingly complicated and risky gamble paid off: each escapee was extracted without a shot being fired. Mendez is considered one of the greatest officers in CIA history. The story of this, his greatest mission, has never been told.
Now an acclaimed film directed by and starring Ben Affleck, with Bryan Cranston, Alan Arkin and John Goodman'
Antonio Mendez was cited by Richard Clarke as one of the top two or three CIA agents in history. His He received the Intelligence Star for his rescue of six Americans from revolutionary Iran, and has received the CIA's Intelligence Medal of Merit and the Trailblazer Medallion. He continues to consult for the CIA. He and his wife, also a famed agent, were technical consultants on the television series 'The Agency' and founding board members of the International Spy Museum in Washington.
Matt Baglio is the author of the New York Times bestseller The Rite: The Making of a Modern Exorcist. His writing appears regularly in the Daily Mail and the Associated Press.
James Bond's Q comes to life. This gripping, true story of a white-knuckle operation reads like a thriller. Full of authentic detail and characters, of bravery and drama, it's a must-read
—— Dame Stella Rimington, former director general, MI5For me, he is the greatest of all the war poets.... it is Owen's intense respect for the soldier that makes his poetry so powerful. Those who did not return have their meticulously maintained stone memorials on the fields of Flanders. But their memorial in our minds is largely built by Wilfred Owen
—— Jeremy Paxman , SpectatorThe greatest of all the War Poets… This edition…is a must for every poetry lover
—— Emma Lee-Potter , IndependentCharles Townshend's monumental work [is] bold in ambition, scope and execution ... a work of broad and confident understanding, characterised by a uniform care in its approach to complex and controversial material ... An intensely compelling and often discomfiting narrative, which candidly explores four years of personal and intimate violence
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—— Sunday Business PostFor those interested in a reliable and empathetic introduction to the topic, this is now the best place to start
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—— Marianne Elliott , Times Higher EducationA well-sourced, severely objective account of the origins and courses of the wars that followed the Easter Rising
—— Irish CatholicSincere and unpretentious... She paints [...] a picture of austerity Britain in which ballet was a supremely glamorous career path.
—— Rupert Christiansen , Literary ReviewA charming and moving portrait of a wartime childhood and an extraordinary account of what it takes to make it on stage ... I couldn't put it down
—— Elaine PaigeAn intriguing and moving account of a young girl's balletic ambitions during wartime. Wonderfully readable, spirited and honest
—— Derek JacobiI loved this book ... her energy, enthusiasm and passion are present in every line, and her commitment to the theatre and her determination to excel make for a fascinating and thoroughly absorbing read.
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—— Gloria HunnifordIn A Dancer in Wartime, Gillian Lynne canters through her amazing experiences like the thoroughbred she is
—— Sir Ian McKellenA warm, affectionate portrait of the ballet world, and of success tinged with sadness
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