The Siege

Ben Macintyre

From Shelf: Official Indie Non-Fiction Bestsellers (week 38, 2024)

FROM THE NO. 1 BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF SAS: ROGUE HEROES AND THE SPY AND THE TRAITOR. DISCOVER THE STORY OF THE SIX DAYS THAT SHOOK THE NATION!___________________April 30, 1980. Six heavily armed gunmen burst into the Iranian embassy in London, taking 26 people hostage.A tense six-day siege ensued as millions gathered around screens across the country to witness the longest news flash in British history. Six days in which police negotiators and psychiatrists sought a bloodless end to the standoff, and the SAS laid plans for a daring rescue mission.Drawing on unpublished source material, exclusive interviews, and witness testimony, bestselling historian Ben Macintyre tells the dramatic story in full for the first time - from the years and weeks of build-up on both sides, to the minute-by-minute of the rescue.The Siege is the remarkable story of what really happened on those fateful six days, of a moment that forever changed the way the nation thought about the SAS, and itself, forever.___________________'Masterly . . . it has never been recounted so pleasurably as it has been here' New York Times'Macintyre does true-life espionage better than anyone else' John PrestonBen Macintyre, Sunday Times bestseller, August 2023