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Operation Thunderbolt

The Entebbe Raid - the Most Audacious Hostage Rescue Mission in History

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Operation Thunderbolt

By: Saul David
Narrated by: Peter Ganim
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About this listen

This is the true story of the greatest special forces operation of the 20th century and the first shot in the West's long war against international terrorism. It is a tale of human drama and unbearable tension in which courage, comradeship, fanaticism, incompetence and luck all play their parts.

On 3 July 1976, Israeli Special Forces carried out a daring raid to free more than 100 Israeli, French and US hostages held by German and Palestinian terrorists at Entebbe Airport, Uganda. The legacy of this mission is still felt today in the way Western governments respond to terrorist blackmail.

Codenamed Thunderbolt, the operation carried huge risks. The flight was a challenge: 2,000 miles with total radio silence over hostile territory to land in darkness at Entebbe Airport in Idi Amin's Uganda. On the ground, the Israeli commandos had just three minutes to carry out their mission. They had to evade a cordon of élite Ugandan paratroopers, storm the terminal and free more than 100 hostages.

So much could have gone wrong: the death of the hostages if the terrorists got wind of the assault or the capture of Israel's finest soldiers if their Hercules planes could not take off. Both would have been a human and a PR catastrophe. Now, with the mission largely forgotten or even unknown to many, Saul David gives the first comprehensive account of Operation Thunderbolt using classified documents from archives in four countries and interviews with key participants, including Israeli soldiers and politicians, hostages, a member of the Kenyan government and a former terrorist.

Both a thrilling listen and a major piece of historical detective work, Operation Thunderbolt shows how the outcome of Israel's most famous military operation depended on secret diplomacy, courage and luck - and was in the balance right up to the very last moment.

©2015 Saul David (P)2015 Hachette Audio
Africa Freedom & Security Special & Elite Forces War & Crisis Military War Aviation Israeli-Palestinian conflict Transportation Air Force
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Critic reviews

"The definitive work on the subject.... This is the achievement of a masterly, first-rate historian." ( New York Times Book Review)
"It's a brilliantly orchestrated book, wonderfully rich in detail, but at the same time roaring along at a heart-thumping pace...." ( Mail on Sunday)
"A brilliant, breathless account that reads like the plot of an action movie." ( Sunday Telegraph)

What listeners say about Operation Thunderbolt

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Awful voiceover

The performer’s voice is appalling. He uses the same modulation of pitch for almost every sentence and it sounds like a computerised voice. Terrible.

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Enjoy Thunderbolt.

Enjoy Thunderbolt.
This would have made hevy reading for me but I enjoyed the audile presentation and found it difficult to put down until complete.

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Great book, mediocre narrator

The book is very well-made and the story is very interesting. However, the narrator keeps a very boring monotone for the whole of the book, with almost no variation in tone or pitch between the different voices. It could be better

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A Real Life Thriller

This book tells the story of the audacious rescue mission by Israeli special forces in 1976.It is well narrated and presents the story from a variety of perspectives, concluding with a good analysis of the impact of the events.Recommended

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2 people found this helpful

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Armed Rescue

This is an good e-book, it takes you through the story step by step, mostly from the hostages point of view, but it does cover the military planning and the political situation. Recommended!

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Feel better informed

Well told and superbly narrated, this story taught me much that is not widely talk about with regard to these events.

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excellent.

riveting from start to finish, when I had to put it down, I could not wait to get back to it.

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Michael

Even so long after the rescue took place and knowing in general terms the outcome, the writing is so vivid the tension was gripping.

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Extremely interesting Story

Absolutely loved it, so detailed. The narrator wasn't the best I've heard though but nevertheless I thoroughly enjoyed it would definitely recommend. Events described are/were Very relevant in World history

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Gripping

Hooked from start to finish, brilliantly narrated and a wonderful, flowing, almost fiction like quality to the writing.

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4 people found this helpful