This great non-fiction book by author Ken Follett chronicles a fascinating attempt by a US buisenessman, Ross Perot, to free some of his employees from wrongful imprisonment in Iran during the regime change and unrest there in 1978. Follett brings to life this fascinating window on a time of unrest in the country of Iran. Ross Perot is a well know American buisenessman (known best now for his campaigs for President in 1992 and 1996) who at that time ran one of the pioneering companies in computer applications. His company, EDS, had contracted to work with the Iranian government on their social security program. As the unrest in that country increased, it reached a point where Iran quit paying the company for their work, and owed them millions of dollars. As Perot was contemplating pulling his people out of the country, two of his top executives, Paul Chiapparone and Bill Gaylord, were suddenly arrested, on fuzzy charges of some type of conspiracy, though no formal charges were brought. Perot, feeling responsible for his employees, immediately started to pull strings at all levels of government and with friends and aquaintances in all sorts of positions. He talked with everyone from aquaintances in the Iranian government to American statesman Henry Kissinger. Even with these varied and powerful contacts, they were unable to make any headway in getting the two prisoners released.
The two men were being held in an Iranian jail, and as political unrest continued, and general sentiment in the country turned against Americans as the Ayatola emerged as the most powerful force in politics, Perot started looking for other ways to free his men. This developed into a plan to break the men out of jail. Perot enlisted the help of decorated military veteran Bull Simons, who he had known through his support of the military and through his recognition of the soldiers who had bravely carried out the raid on the Son Tay POW camp in Vietnam, a raid that was successful except that the prisoners had been moved only days before. Perot gathered together a group of men from inside his company who were war veterans, or who had other applicable skills such as martial arts, and set them working on an audacious plan to break the two men out of jail. After months of planning, and after all diplomatic options failed, Perot began to put his plan into action.
The men finally made their way to Iran, which was difficult because of the political situation, but as they began to get ready for the actual raid, the two prisoners were moved to a more secure prison, where breaking them out was a different type of prospect. While evaluating their new options, unrest started to break out on a grand scale, as the current government broke down. The crowds broke down the doors to the prison, among their other activities, and the two men were able to walk free. Through visits from Perot and others, they knew that they had friends in town, and made their way to Perot's hotel. Once free, they had to leave the country. This proved to be a challenging journey north to the Turkish border. This journey involved going through bandit country, through numerous military checkpoints, and navigating numerous obstacles. Follett makes the whole plot and journey come alive in a real-life drama of life and death, involving a government that was falling apart at the seams, and a determined businessman loyal to his employees. It is a great read, and an interesting piece of history that I knew nothing about.
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