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Operation Thunderbolt

Flight 139 and the Raid on Entebbe Airport, the Most Audacious Hostage Rescue Mission in History

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Operation Thunderbolt

Written by: Saul David
Narrated by: Peter Ganim
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The definitive account of one of the greatest Special Forces missions ever, the Raid of Entebbe, by acclaimed military historian Saul David.

On June 27, 1976, an Air France flight from Tel Aviv to Paris was hijacked by a group of Arab and German terrorists who demanded the release of 53 terrorists. The plane was forced to divert to Entebbe, in Uganda -- ruled by the murderous despot Idi Amin, who had no interest in intervening.

Days later, Israeli commandos disguised as Ugandan soldiers assaulted the airport terminal, killed all the terrorists, and rescued all the hostages but three who were killed in the crossfire. The assault force suffered just one fatality: its commander, Yoni Netanyahu (brother of Israel's Prime Minister.) Three of the country's greatest leaders -- Ehud Barak, Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Rabin -- planned and pulled off one of the most astonishing military operations in history. Africa Armed Forces Middle East Military Wars & Conflicts Aviation War
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What the critics say

"This book is an enthralling, minute-by-minute retelling of the hijack and the dramatic resucue using new sources and material."—Max Hastings, author of Inferno
"Totally thrilling, totally poignant. Bringing the greatest special forces operation of modern times blazingly to life, David's book, full of new revelations, written with the excitement of an action movie, the authority of a historian, is great drama, superb storytelling--and yet tells us much about the Middle East today."—Simon Sebag Montefiore, author of Jerusalem
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Most Relevant
This incident was a footnote to history for me, as I was too young to remember it, and it has not been in the news or books I have read. As a result, I learned a lot from it. Well researched and balanced writing. I found lots of historical context here on the Israel / Palestine conflict that was helpful to me in understanding today’s world.

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