Retelling of Iranian embassy siege is as gripping as an action film

“Few events in modern British history,” writes Macintyre, “are so heavily mythologised (and misunderstood) as the Iranian Embassy Siege.” Among those who tried to get involved was Prince Andrew. “The young royal wished to be where the action was. He wanted to see the drama unfolding. And he was used to getting what he wanted.” Sensibly, the prince was kept well away.

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Macintyre writes that the historian of the siege has work to do in separating fact from fiction since “many people have recounted, or added to, the story without being directly or even peripherally involved”. The recollection of events varies among genuine participants, and Macintyre admits to making choices among competing memories: “A few interviewees will feel short changed,” he cautions.

He melds myriad disparate sources into a seamless narrative. Like countless other sports fans at the time, the soldiers were absorbed by the drama of the snooker final. “Most of the SAS contingent were rooting for Higgins,” notes Macintyre. “Something about this twitchy, tough, turbulent character chimed with the spirit of B Squadron.”

Reading this book felt like watching a well-made action movie that takes over your imagination to the extent that you feel part of that world somehow even after you have left the cinema. During the siege, one of the British hostages picked up a copy of Frederic Forsyth’s thriller The Day of the Jackal and read the whole book. “Bloody excellent,” was the verdict of Ron Morris, who was an embassy employee.

The suspense of The Siege may be likened to Forsyth’s gripping fact-based fiction about a plot to assassinate the French president – the reader knows what happened in real life yet is caught up in the skill and energy of the storytelling.

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