Argo Audiobook By Antonio Mendez, Matt Baglio 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
History & Criticism History & Theory Intelligence & Espionage Iran United States 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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What listeners say about Argo

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Great story

This was a great story with great Americans! It was a little drawn out though.

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Great story, annoying narration

Narrator ruined this for me. Especially his use of fake accents and over pronunciation of the T and Ss in “houseguests”.

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Play it again, Sam

Although a familiar plot, ergo the Casablanca tag line, the book provides deeper understanding of the covert agencies of yesteryear. Very well read and an excellent companion to full fledged spy stories. A must ‘read!’

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Fascinating

I really enjoyed this book and generally all the books by Tony Mendez that I’ve read so far.

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Great Book

What did you love best about Argo?

If you remember the Iran crises this is a very telling story of what happen to some of the people in Iran at the time. No question this book is so superior to the movie which leaves out much and puts in too much.

It's a must listen.

Which scene was your favorite?

Getting through the Airport

If you could give Argo a new subtitle, what would it be?

Unsung hero's of the CIA

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better than fiction

So Good! why is this not how we learned history in school. loved the attention to detail. never boring.

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First Rate Story.

Could not turn it off. I had first learned of the adventure by seeing the movie. Fantastic.

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Better than the movie

But
So much detail almost too much detail however the incident required the detail and what happened behind the scenes for the relatively uneventful walk through the airport

They were simply prepared for a lot of contingencies that just didn’t occur

Also Carter was truly feckless but glad there was little commentary for or against just straight this is what went down

The entirety of the hostages were released when Reagan won cause they knew his rescue would not fail

Anyway

Excellent recitation of what happened and Mr Mendez role in it

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Amazing story!

Love this story - makes me want to be a spy! Just make sure you listen to it at 1.25x b/c I almost returned it due to the narrator.

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Squad goals!

Too rarely do we get to hear about a government job done right, by people who care, and where caring and big, nutty thinking matters.
Here is that story. I knew the ending and was still happily transfixed.

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