Argo cover art

Argo

How the CIA and Hollywood Pulled Off the Most Audacious Rescue in History

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Argo

By: Antonio Mendez, Matt Baglio
Narrated by: Dylan Baker
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About this listen

The true account of the 1979 rescue of six American hostages from Iran

On November 4, 1979, Iranian militants stormed the American embassy in Tehran and captured dozens of American hostages, sparking a 444-day ordeal and a quake in global politics still reverberating today. But there's a little-known footnote to the crisis: six Americans escaped. And a midlevel agent named Antonio Mendez devised an ingenious yet incredibly risky plan to rescue them.

Armed with foreign film visas, Mendez and an unlikely team of CIA agents and Hollywood insiders - directors, producers, actors - traveled to Tehran under the guise of scouting locations for a fake film called Argo. While pretending to find the perfect scenery and backdrops, the team succeeded in contacting the escapees and smuggling them out of Iran without a single shot being fired.

Antonio Mendez finally details the mind-bogglingly complex and dangerous operation he led more than three decades ago. A true story of secret identities and international intrigue, Argo is the gripping account of the history-making collusion between Hollywood and high-stakes espionage.

©2012 Antonio Mendez and Matt Baglio (P)2012 Penguin Audiobooks Americas Entertainment & Performing Arts Film & TV Freedom & Security History & Criticism Middle East Political Science Politics & Government United States World Espionage Celebrity Entertainment Iran

Critic Reviews

“Fresh and engaging…A solid choice for fans of thrillers and international intrigue.”(Kirkus)

“James Bond’s Q comes to life. This gripping, true story of a white-knuckle operation by a little known part of the CIA reads like a thriller. Full of authentic detail and characters, of bravery and drama, it’s a must-read for all spy enthusiasts and CIA watchers.” (Dame Stella Rimington, former general director, MI5, British Intelligence)

“The CIA and Hollywood in cahoots, a painter turned spy, an impossible rescue mission with no guns and only one chance at success - Argo has everything. This remarkable white-knuckle spy story is torn from the pages of real life, and will have you up past your bedtime to discover its thrilling endgame.” (Eric Blehm, author of Fearless)
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It came across as being told as truefully as it is possible to tell a true story from one perspective and it offered fascinating looks into a life that you would ordinarily not be able to see into. A world and life of secrecy.

Invisible lives

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The Argo movie is just one element of a much more in-depth book. I really enjoyed how the book delved into the Iranian political situation and other CIA missions. Excellent!

So much more in-depth than the movie.

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