We can't be friends, we can't be enemies

If Kenneth Pollack's Iran book is a tad on the academic side for you, how about the new one from Mark Bowden, author of Black Hawk Down? Guests of the Ayatollah is about the hostage crisis and it gets a rather strong review from Publishers Weekly (see link,) written by none other than Phillip Caputo! I originally wasn't that interested as I didn't think it would be that interesting, but the reviews mention detail stories of individual hostages stories which sound rivetting. And it is Mark Bowden, so it won't be dry.

This book will give background on the alien nature of the Iranian theocracy. I remain sympathetic to the realist viewpoint that the Iran and US, while unlikely to be allies, are natural partners. I hope our two countries can find that path.