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

 p> 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

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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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Worth time time to listen to, more details than the film makes it extra interesting.

Very good all round

Great true story

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i was sorry to hear that the most exciting incidents in the film didn't happen! nevertheless, very entertaining and informative

interesting

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Whilst you can appreciate the danger many people put their lives in on a regular basis, and the bravery of many individuals; what came across more was the sheer amount of money that was thrown at this undercover industry, and the infinite level of detail they covered. It is an amazing story that has been stretched somewhat to become a book - have not seen the film and now I don't feel I want to.

Mmmmm...

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I had been looking forward to seeing the film Argo for a while but when i saw this on Audible i thought i would listen to the book first. I was not dissapointed it was well delivered and a very exciting book. I am not quite to the end yet but i will certainly look out for future books by these authors.

Great book

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Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Interesting story, though perhaps a little on the short side.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Argo?

The discussion of the process for forging documents.

Any additional comments?

Ok - this is really trivial, but how he pronounced Iranian bugged me. Logically, his pronunciation is probably 'correct' but he says IH-RAH-NIAN and in the UK I'm used to hearing IH-RAIN-IAN.

It's not exactly how hollywood told it

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If you enjoyed the Oscar winning Argo but wanted to really under stand what the operation to save the house guests was really like, this is where to start. Written the real 'Ben Affleck' Tony Mendez, you can hear about the role of the Canadians British and the real world politics of a crisis that affects the world to this day.

Better the film

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Having recently seen the film 'Argo' at the cinema I was keen to listen to the full story and what a story! A very interesting and detailed book which brought to life the events of the late 1970's in Iran and USA.Fascinating.

Argo

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This is workmanlike, straightforwardly written - and if you're looking forward to it because you've seen the film you'll be sadly disappointed! I did listen to it before watching the film, but for once much preferred the movie. I found myself wondering if this was the reading, which I found rather flat. In fact I went out and bought the book to check this, and the read book was more vivid than the audiobook. The original scheme was a daring and challenging idea, bravely executed, but the reading actually made it sound rather routine.



As a le Carre fan, i like my spy stories - real or fictional - either rich on technical detail or suspense-filled, preferably both. Both the book and the audiobook are, for me, just a fraction thin on both, beefed up by rather too much retrospective autobiographical stuff about the author. The initial escape of the US diplomats is however thrilling to read, and he creates a vivid picture of their life inTehran, but its actually rather less exciting to listen to - and nothing in the book or audiobook is anything like as gripping as the film - somehow the reading almost had me thinking, rather guiltily, 'so what'? I also wondered if thismight be because he had to censor a fair amount of the CIA detail?



Whereas because it contains so much really detailed, accurate information, and is written really well, 'Operation Mincemeat' is more interesting and exciting than the old movie myth of 'the Man Who Never Was', Argo the audio book is definitely not as gripping as Argo the movie. However, still worth a listen- better still, a read.

Just a bit dull.....

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Exciting story providing a rare insight into clandestine operations. Well written and well narrated. Couldn’t stop listening.

Couldn't stop listening

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