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Operation Thunderbolt
- The Entebbe Raid - the Most Audacious Hostage Rescue Mission in History
- Narrated by: Peter Ganim
- Length: 14 hrs and 49 mins
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Operation Thunderbolt
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Summary
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.
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Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Matteo R.
- 23-11-23
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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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- O tempora o mores
- 27-03-22
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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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Jean's railway children
- 20-08-21
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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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- R. J. Selwyn
- 18-08-20
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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2 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- mcsmall
- 12-08-18
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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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Panda
- 10-01-21
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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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Stephen
- 08-09-23
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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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 07-09-18
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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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Donna
- 16-03-23
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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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Rossano Nocera
- 14-06-18
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