Book description
Argo by Antonio Mendez and Matt Baglio - the declassified CIA
story behind the Oscar-winning film
WINNER OF 'BEST PICTURE' AT THE ACADEMY AWARDS, THE BAFTAS AND
THE GOLDEN GLOBES
Tehran, November 1979. Militant students stormed the American
embassy and held sixty Americans captive for a gruelling 444 days. But
until now the CIA has never revealed the twist to the Iran Hostage
Crisis: six Americans escaped.
The escape plot was run by Antonio Mendez, head of the CIA's
extraction team and a master of disguise. Mendez came up with an idea
so daring and potentially foolish that it seemed destined for
Hollywood... and indeed it was. He invented a fake sci-fi film called
'Argo' (from the actual name of the CIA mission, a reference to
Jason and the Argonauts). After announcing the production to
the movie industry, Mendez put together a team of real 1970s Hollywood
actors, directors and producers - along with covert CIA officers. They
would travel to revolutionary Iran under a foreign film visa, and
while 'scouting locations' throughout the country they would track
down the six Americans who were hiding out. After giving them false
identities as part of the film crew, they would spirit them back
across the border.
One part 'Ocean's 11' and another part 'Black Hawk Down', Mendez's
mind-bogglingly complicated and risky gamble paid off: each escapee
was extracted without a shot being fired. Mendez is considered one of
the greatest officers in CIA history. The story of this, his greatest
mission, has never been told.
Now an acclaimed film directed by and starring Ben Affleck, with
Bryan Cranston, Alan Arkin and John Goodman'
Antonio Mendez was cited by Richard Clarke as one of the top
two or three CIA agents in history. His He received the Intelligence
Star for his rescue of six Americans from revolutionary Iran, and has
received the CIA's Intelligence Medal of Merit and the Trailblazer
Medallion. He continues to consult for the CIA. He and his wife, also
a famed agent, were technical consultants on the television series
'The Agency' and founding board members of the International Spy
Museum in Washington.
Matt Baglio is the author of the New York Times
bestseller The Rite: The Making of a Modern Exorcist. His
writing appears regularly in the Daily Mail and the Associated Press.
Antonio Mendez was cited by Richard Clarke as one of the top
two or three CIA agents in history. His He received the Intelligence
Star for his rescue of six Americans from revolutionary Iran, and has
received the CIA's Intelligence Medal of Merit and the Trailblazer
Medallion. He continues to consult for the CIA. He and his wife, also
a famed agent, were technical consultants on the television series
'The Agency' and founding board members of the International Spy
Museum in Washington.
Matt Baglio is the author of the New York Times
bestseller The Rite: The Making of a Modern Exorcist. His
writing appears regularly in the Daily Mail and the Associated Press.
