What readers think of Guests of the Ayatollah, plus links to write your own review.

It was a great book - offered fantastic insights into the 1979 hostage crisis. I particularly liked the in-depth focus on some of the hostages' trials and tribulations during the crisis. My only question is, does Mark Bowden realize that in Iran, displaying "thumbs up" is equal to a Westerner displaying the middle finger? That changes the thrust of the meaning of his last lines in the book quite a bit, don't you think?

A lot of inconsistencies exist in this book. I gather they were for journalistic entertainment. One of them is the point that he made that some of those involved knew of their mission while training for it and the possibility that their families would know in advance. This is NOT TRUE. Those involved knew that a mission was being devised, however, no one knew exactly what it was until days before attempted rescue.
Also, The Secretary of the Navy made a visit to the 2 aircraft carriers involved and offered those on the carriers an opportunity to have 2 beers per person. This was commendable since this was the first time that alcohol was allowed on board any US ship in memory.
These are just a couple of the inaccuracies in this book.. I know...I was there.