• Operation Thunderbolt

  • Flight 139 and the Raid on Entebbe Airport, the Most Audacious Hostage Rescue Mission in History
  • By: Saul David
  • Narrated by: Peter Ganim
  • Length: 14 hrs and 49 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (369 ratings)

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Operation Thunderbolt  By  cover art

Operation Thunderbolt

By: Saul David
Narrated by: Peter Ganim
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Publisher's summary

The definitive account of one of the greatest Special Forces missions ever, the Raid of Entebbe, by acclaimed military historian Saul David.

On June 27, 1976, an Air France flight from Tel Aviv to Paris was hijacked by a group of Arab and German terrorists who demanded the release of 53 terrorists. The plane was forced to divert to Entebbe in Uganda - ruled by the murderous despot Idi Amin, who had no interest in intervening.

Days later, Israeli commandos disguised as Ugandan soldiers assaulted the airport terminal, killed all the terrorists, and rescued all the hostages but three who were killed in the crossfire. The assault force suffered just one fatality: its commander, Yoni Netanyahu (brother of Israel's current prime minister.) Three of the country's greatest leaders - Ehud Barak, Shimon Peres, and Yitzhak Rabin - planned and pulled off one of the most astonishing military operations in history.

©2015 Saul David (P)2015 Hachette Audio
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History

Critic reviews

"This book is an enthralling, minute-by-minute retelling of the hijack and the dramatic rescue using new sources and material." (Max Hastings, author of Inferno)
"Totally thrilling, totally poignant. Bringing the greatest special forces operation of modern times blazingly to life, David's book, full of new revelations, written with the excitement of an action movie, the authority of a historian, is great drama, superb storytelling - and yet tells us much about the Middle East today." (Simon Sebag Montefiore, author of Jerusalem)

What listeners say about Operation Thunderbolt

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A great historical sharing of a critical event!

The author provides compelling details of one of the most important events regarding the war on terror!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

One of the best audiobooks I’ve purchased

This was a difficult audiobook to turn off. The Jewish people deserve to be proud of these heroes! Especially, Yoni Netanyahu!

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Thrilling Tale

It's a good book performed well by the reader and edited well. The operation though presented as a massive success really was a near total mess from the time they fired unsuppressed until they returned to the planes and pure unadulterated luck really won the day here. The one thing that angered me was how Henry Kissinger called Israel to condem them for using US supplied equipment offensively and by the end of the phone call had a US carrier group scrambling to get off the coast of Africa to protect Israel and it's allies from any counter attack instead of sticking to our guns with the condemnation. But I digress, it's a good listen and a good tale; would recommend.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Comprehensive and No Wrong Notes

This book was detailed and interesting with an objective viewpoint. Readers who want an uncompromised historical narrative will find this book satisfies on several levels.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Over all a good read.

Packed full of info. Sometimes a bit to much. Some spots were a bit slow, over all it was enjoyable.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great story. Only Warning... It Is Exhaustive...

Exhaustive -- in a good way, if you like to have all the details. Great story though, and quite well written and preformed.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

great true story

The author definitely did his research. I have read other books or stories on the raid, but none discuss the political build up or aftermath like this one. The reader is a bit monotone for my taste, but did an over all good job.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Kudos to author not to narrator

Extraordinary amount of research, journalistic verisimilitude. Kept us on edge throughout. Narrator mispronounced Hebrew badly

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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Wow; chilling!

Couldn't stop listening; ignored all chores, 'reading' right through. Story, narration both awesome. Again, wow.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Lots of detail

I liked the meticulous detail about the hijacking and raid. I learned that the hostages were a mixed bag in terms of rising to nobility in the face of evil. Fascinating to hear of some (non-Israeli primarily) cheering idi Amin. The pilot does not come off well. Yoni Netanyahu also comes off in a mixed way.

The one thing that I didn't understand is how the paratrooper shot in the spinal cord was found and rescued. Spoiler alert: I loved the PostScript about Haddad's chocolate... Karma.

Overall this is a great exposition of a watershed moment.

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2 people found this helpful