Guests of the Ayatollah (2006)

The latest book by the author of 1999's Black Hawk Down arrives at an ideal time. With the U.S. engaged in a protracted fight against radical Islam and Iran's recent announcements about its nuclear program, Mark Bowden's mammoth feat of reportage on the Iranian hostage crisis of 1979-81 is essential reading. In that incident, a group of Muslim students captured the U.S. embassy in Tehran believing it was a den of spies, then held the 66 occupants for 444 days. In Guests of the Ayatollah, Bowden shows unparalleled skill in constructing an omniscient and engrossing narrative based on an almost daily account of the plight of the hostages, behind-the-scenes political machinations, and the planning of a rescue mission.