The Siege

The Remarkable Story of the Greatest SAS Hostage Drama

De: Ben Macintyre

Narrado por: Ben Macintyre

Brought to you by Penguin.

From the author of Sunday Times #1 bestsellers COLDITZ, SAS: ROGUE HEROES and THE SPY AND THE TRAITOR . . .

On April 30, 1980, six heavily armed gunmen burst into the Iranian embassy on Princes Gate, overlooking Hyde Park in London. There they took 26 hostages, including embassy staff, visitors, and three British citizens.

A tense six-day siege ensued as millions gathered around screens across the country to witness the longest news flash in British television history, in which police negotiators and psychiatrists sought a bloodless end to the standoff, while the SAS – hitherto an organisation shrouded in secrecy – laid plans for a daring rescue mission: Operation Nimrod.

Drawing on unpublished source material, exclusive interviews with the SAS, and testimony from witnesses including hostages, negotiators, intelligence officers and the on-site psychiatrist, bestselling historian Ben Macintyre takes readers on a gripping journey from the years and weeks of build-up on both sides, to the minute-by-minute account of the siege and rescue.

Recreating the dramatic conversations between negotiators and hostages, the cutting-edge intelligence work happening behind-the-scenes, and the media frenzy around this moment of international significance, The Siege is the remarkable story of what really happened on those fateful six days, and the first full account of a moment that forever changed the way the nation thought about the SAS – and itself.

‘Macintyre does true-life espionage better than anyone else’ John Preston

'The pre-eminent historian of the secret world . . . His books have set the gold standard for accurate historical reporting, but read like heart-pounding thrillers' Mick Herron

'Masterly . . . it has never been recounted so pleasurably as it has been here' New York Times

© Ben Macintyre 2024 (P) Penguin Audio 2024

Reseñas de la Crítica

Ben Macintyre has established himself as the pre-eminent historian of the secret world, his work opening doors most of us didn’t know were there. His books have set the gold standard for accurate historical reporting, but read like heart-pounding thrillers.

Macintyre has a knack for finding the most fascinating storylines in history (David Grann)

Macintyre writes with the diligence and insight of a journalist, and the panache of a born storyteller. (John Banville)

The definitive account of what happened . . . so gripping that I literally could not put the book down. (Jack Straw)

Unforgettable (Robert McCrum)

A fresh and gripping read . . . A masterful big-picture narrative, drawing on interviews, news archives and unpublished personal memoirs by those who survived. Macintyre preserves the hostages’ story in magnificent, humane style – and offers another swashbuckling tribute to their rescuers (Colin Freeman)

There have been plenty of books written in the aftermath and intervening years, most claiming to be the "true story", but none as exhaustive or gripping as Ben Macintyre's The Siege

In The Siege Macintyre has access to SAS sources including, in one of his customary coups, Major Hector Gullan, who planned the raid. Yet he gives greater room to the feelings of the hostages, the shifting emotions of their captors and the interplay between the two groups. Macintyre’s achievement is that his account is the more gripping for it.

Gripping…a cracking procedural...it’s another hit for [Macintyre]…a remarkably immersive account of what happened…Macintyre’s superb reconstruction restores it to vivid, complex life

A master storyteller…Macintyre adds real value to our understanding of what occurred in those six days with his deeply humane book. He is particularly compelling in the portraits he puts together of the dramatis personae

Wonderful

Excellent book - very well researched and well read - as a CT officer back in the day it’s very much appreciated

An Unbelievable True Story, Brilliantly Told

Sometimes the most unbelievable stories are true. This is one of them. From the very first chapter, Ben Macintyre tells it in his typical style. The tension builds gradually, mirroring the experience of those trapped inside the siege. In the final three hours, I found myself listening at every spare moment. I simply couldn’t stop.

Execellent Reasearch and writing

The facts read like a page turner story. The Author did not let us down with his current book. All his previous books at just as great.

Both Ben Macintyre’s penmanship and reading are excellent. The pace and integration of every angle and point of view made a good time line of the unfolding events.
I look forward to the next book.

A gripping page-turner of a book!

On 30 April, six gunmen seized the Iranian Embassy in London, taking 26 people—both Iranians and Brits—hostage. They demanded the British government’s intervention to secure the release of political prisoners in Iran, and support for the autonomy of Arabistan (Khuzestan) in southwest Iran. The group intended to hold the embassy for just 24 hours, believing this would be enough to draw international attention to their cause and secure safe passage to an Arab country afterwards. But, best-laid plans and all that ...

After 5 days of stalling and on and off negotiations on political and police levels what followed was a dramatic and iconic military operation: a live-broadcasted assault on the embassy by the SAS, the British Army’s elite special forces unit. The media coverage was as extensive as it was unwanted, but impossible to avoid.

While Coronation Street aired uninterrupted, the final moments of the World Snooker Championship (ironically named the Embassy Championship after its sponsor, a tobacco brand) were disrupted. More than 14 million viewers worldwide were watching as the siege unfolded live. Needless to say, the BBC faced criticism and complaints for the decision (for deciding in favour of hostage rescue vs snooker!)— the "good old days" when consuming media was on a different plane altogether.

Historian Ben Macintyre delivers not only a riveting procedural account of the siege but also offers insight into the political and personal histories of those involved: the “terrorists,” the hostages, the police, and the SAS operatives. He writes with insight, compassion and humour, combining the bizarre with the tragic . His ability to show the human side of every character —without excusing or moralizing—is one of the book’s strongest points.

Macintyre has the narrative in hand and builds it up nicely towards the climax: Operation Nimrod, the SAS rescue mission. Though it lasted a mere 11 minutes—“roughly the time it takes to cook a hard-boiled egg”—its execution is described in intense detail. The 11 minutes takes more than an hour on the audiobook. It is quite a challenge to narrate a complex, multi-floor military operation from multiple perspectives (hostages, gunmen, commandos), all happening simultaneously. Yet he pulled it off, keeping the tension high and the storytelling crisp.

Macintyre has this gift for turning meticulously researched history into stories that read like thrillers. This is my third book by him After Operation Mincemeat: How a Dead Man and a Bizarre Plan Fooled the Nazis and Assured an Allied Victory & Agent Zigzag: A True Story of Nazi Espionage, Love, and Betrayal, and on consideration the one enjoyed the most.

He narrates the audiobook himself and does a great job.

Highly recommended.