Akron Public Library

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 felt today. But there's a little-known footnote to the crisis: six Americans escaped. And a mid-level agent named Antonio Mendez devised an ingenious yet incredibly risky plan to rescue them.

The critical moment of the Iran-United States crisis highlighted the vulnerability of even the so-called "superpower" United States in the modern world of international blackmail and terrorism. The long-playing "crisis" became a major driving force and momentum in United States-mid-East relations during that moment and ever since, and this book describes it all.

Describes how the Reagan-Bush campaign made a secret deal with Iran to delay the release of the American hostages until after the 1980 election.

A chronicle of the Iran hostage crisis, America's first battle with militant Islam. On November 4, 1979, a group of radical Islamist students, inspired by the revolutionary Iranian leader Ayatollah Khomeini, stormed the U.S. embassy in Tehran. They took 52 Americans hostage, and kept nearly all of them hostage for 444 days. Journalist Bowden tells the story through the eyes of the hostages, the soldiers in a new special forces unit sent to free them,...

In this fascinating account of spycraft and compassion, Wright (Three Nights in Havana) puts newly unclassified documents to excellent use in recounting how Canadian ambassador Ken Taylor hid six Americans who had slipped out a side door and gathered intelligence for the U.S. government during the Iran Hostage Crisis.

Argo (2012, 120 min.): Based on the true-life heroics of CIA agent Tony Mendez and his efforts to rescue six American diplomats from Iran during the revolution and hostage crisis. Disguised as a film crew, they must hid in plain sight to make their escape. Town (2010, 125 min.): A longtime thief simultaneously plans his biggest score and exit from the life while dodging the FBI looking to take him and his crew down.