A very good read. I've always wanted to learn more about this as it was the first major news story from my youth. I was 10 when the embassy was stormed. It really paints a different picture of Jimmy Carter. While it took him a while to make decisions, he still had to contend with allies in Europe that wanted nothing to do with the crisis. He also had to deal with powerless Iranians who ultimately had to answer to Ayatollah Khomeini.

It's also interesting reading this while there is now unrest with the way women are treated in Iran. The chickens have really come to roost in Iran.

Good read,bit drawn out and long winded at times,3.5 stars for me

I've always wanted to know more about the events that led to the American hostage crisis over in Iran in 1979, and this book does not disappoint when it comes to providing exhaustive details drawn from a multitude of sources (including interviews with many of the 53 hostages themselves). I now feel as though I can say, after over 600 pages of reading, I have a pretty firm grasp of what happened. So, much appreciation to Mark Bowden and Guests of the Ayatollah, which gave me all of the information (and then some) to form a well-educated opinion of those 444 chaotic days.

As other reviewers have noted, my only real issue with the book was at times the author's clear pro-America stance. Yes, the embassy takeover was ridiculous and unorganized. Yes, Iran's "government" at that time was in such shambles, that a high school student council could have worked out much more solid and timely negotiations. No one is disagreeing that what the Iranian students did was reckless and wrong, and that the hostages were held far longer than was necessary simply to "make a point" against America.

But as for the civilians - not the students, not the politicians, the ayatollahs, the mullahs (all of the ones milking this situation and its publicity for all it was worth) - Bowden could have been a bit more sympathetic to their terror of Americans. For instance, when the rescue mission goes awry and Delta Special Forces comes across a busload of Iranian civilians traveling across the desert. Bowden doesn't seem to recognize the irony in the way Delta and other American army personnel treated innocent Iranians - putting pistols to their heads, almost mockingly describing their fear as "wailing" - that sort of thing - with the way the largely innocent American diplomats were treated by the student hostage takers, when they weren't the ones trying to interfere in Iranian affairs (although to be fair, I'd say Middle Eastern countries have a right to be just a little pissed off considering the extent of meddling we HAVE done in their affairs).

All in all a solid read that I would recommend to anyone looking to learn more about what specifically led to the crisis, and why it was drawn out as long as it was. I had always known of it as the "reason Jimmy Carter was a one-term president", and it's now easy to see why. It's not that he did anything wrong... there just weren't any "right" options. How exactly can you negotiate not only with a country that's being completely illogical, but one in which there is no one true source of power that can be spoken to on the matter? It is quite a long read, to be sure, but in my opinion, one that is worth the time.

This is a great book. Mark Bowden already blew my mind a few years ago with Black Hawk Down so I was pretty sure I was going to enjoy this; then I listened to a Leonard Lopate interview with him about this book and that cemented it, I raced right to the bookstore on the way home and read it as often as I could given work/etc. commitments. Put it this way: It's a 600-some-page hardcover bigger than some dictionaries yet I carried it on the El to and from work because I just couldn't put it down. Completely entrancing. So detailed you'd think it was unbelievable, except the details are so authentic, you have no choice but to be in that place. Bowden makes history come alive. And there was an added layer of interest based on the current Middle Eastern situation of course. The modern Western World does not recognize revelation and divine right as the root of government authority... Indeed. And this could be read equally as applying to Iraq/Iran, or to the insanely scarily Religious-Right-to-the-detriment-of-all-others leanings of the current administration: The only political system that services the majority is one that respects true human spirituality, something deeply personal and almost infinitely various.

Well written and entertaining. I thought there would be more on the Iranian revolution and the US negotiations with Iran but this book heavily focuses on the hostages' experiences. The section on the attempted military rescue is great also. Interestingly, the Argo story is essentially ignored.

Mark Bowden does an exceptional job with Guests of the Ayatollah: The First Battle in America's War With Militant Islam. It is about the Iran hostage crisis where radical Islamic students stormed the US embassy in Tehran and captured 52 Americans. The Americans were held hostage for 444 days.

I listened to it on audiobook and it is narrated superbly by Bowden. I love it when an author does their own narration. Bowden's detailed research included interviews with the hostages, their captors, hostage families, and political and military leaders.

The failed rescue attempt is covered in jaw dropping detail. The epilogue indicates how Iran has treated the history and memorialization of the failed rescue. Bowden does an excellent job detailing the US presidential race between Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan. And, by-the-way, Iraq began a war against Iran right in the midst of the hostage negotiations.

Highly recommend!

Quite in-depth, but should have been half the length. Too much filler, such as minute descriptions of people's clothing, what people thought about during their long bouts of boredom, how they felt about every single minor change in their environment, etc. etc. Just too much tedious detail that is not necessary to the narrative. But the good parts of the book are good and informative.

One other negative is Mark Bowden's writing ability. He is not a good writer. Lot's of overly short and awkwardly written sentences, along with extremely clunky descriptions. The very opening paragraph is a good example of his poor writing skills.

If you are interested in this topic, I would still recommend this book, but you may find yourself skipping sections.

n

The whole story of the US hostage crisis in Tehran from 1979 to 1981 in 637 pages of compulsive reading. Lots of interest here and stuff I didn't know. Excellent recounting of the day to day life of the hostages and the complete naivete of the Iranian students, the escape attempts, battles over improvement of conditions and small battles won. Bowden's coverage of the luckless Carter administrations' attempts to negotiate with Iran puts them in an entirely different perspective than we were led to believe at the time. I was gobsmacked when Ghotbzadeh suggested to Hamilton Jordan the CIA might poison the shah. I had forgotten or was unaware of the effect the start of the Iran-Iraq war in the fall of 1980 had on the hostages. It is quite surprising now to read how much benefit of the doubt some hostages and their families gave Iran something that would never happen now after 30 plus years of Islamic terrorism. I have only one complaint with the book. The side story of the six diplomats who hid in the Canadian embassy is covered in about three sentences (p. 329) considering this is the subject of an Oscar winning movie (since the writing of this book) this seems very slight coverage. Nevertheless this book is a page turner and among the best prison memoir/histories I've read. Thanks David.

Exhaustive, bordering on exhausting, account of the Iranian hostage crisis from all perspectives: hostages, hostage takers, diplomats and military personnel. Bowden is an engaging writer, but like the crisis itself, the book drags on the longer the hostages are in captivity. Worth reading for those interested in that aspect of history and US relations in the Middle East.

Last read for 2024.
Took a bit but then again the topic is not an easy one and has been especially interesting with all of current events.
I highly recommend to have a phone or computer handy to backtrack some of the people Mr Bowden mentions on both sides of the conflict.
It gives perspective.
I think the book is , like Hué and Blackhawk , well researched.
There is a ton of details that I am sure will raise eyebrows as one reads this.
I , for example , was unaware of the three “guests” that were held in the foreign ministry.
The Desert One part is painful to read as I knew what was coming.
Overall I recommend to read this for perspective.
Some say Mr Bowden has been biased in this book.
I disagree on this. He collected the data and wrote down a comprehensive report.
One always has to remember he was not personally there and therefore was relying on what he got.

Ain't no Black Hawk Down :(