The Siege

Ben Macintyre has established himself as the pre-eminent historian of the secret world, his work opening doors most of us didn’t know were there. His books have set the gold standard for accurate historical reporting, but read like heart-pounding thrillers. * Mick Herron *
Macintyre has a knack for finding the most fascinating storylines in history -- David Grann * author of The Wager and Killers of the Flower Moon *
Macintyre writes with the diligence and insight of a journalist, and the panache of a born storyteller. -- John Banville * The Guardian  *
The definitive account of what happened . . . so gripping that I literally could not put the book down. -- Jack Straw * Independent *
Unforgettable -- Robert McCrum * Independent *
A fresh and gripping read . . . A masterful big-picture narrative, drawing on interviews, news archives and unpublished personal memoirs by those who survived. Macintyre preserves the hostages’ story in magnificent, humane style – and offers another swashbuckling tribute to their rescuers -- Colin Freeman * Telegraph *
There have been plenty of books written in the aftermath and intervening years, most claiming to be the "true story", but none as exhaustive or gripping as Ben Macintyre's The Siege * Observer *
In The Siege Macintyre has access to SAS sources including, in one of his customary coups, Major Hector Gullan, who planned the raid. Yet he gives greater room to the feelings of the hostages, the shifting emotions of their captors and the interplay between the two groups. Macintyre’s achievement is that his account is the more gripping for it. * Sunday Times *
Gripping…a cracking procedural...it’s another hit for [Macintyre]…a remarkably immersive account of what happened…Macintyre’s superb reconstruction restores it to vivid, complex life * Washington Post *
A master storyteller…Macintyre adds real value to our understanding of what occurred in those six days with his deeply humane book. He is particularly compelling in the portraits he puts together of the dramatis personae * Wall Street Journal *