Our man in Tehran : the true story behind the secret mission to save six Americans during the Iran Hostage Crisis and the foreign ambassador who worked with the CIA to bring them home / Robert Wright.

"First published in Canada in 2010 by HaperCollins Publishers Ltd"--Title page verso.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 387-394) and index.

Tehran -- The unlikely ambassador -- A toast to the Shah -- Revolution -- The downward spiral -- The overthrow of the Shah -- Ayatollah Khomeini in power -- Fateful decisions -- Hostages and Houseguests -- Marg bar Amrika! -- On the run -- Diplomatic maneuvers -- Coming in from the cold -- Walking laps in the ballroom -- Stalemate -- Intelligence -- This is war -- A close call -- Exfiltration -- The Canadian plan -- Passports and visas -- The flight of the houseguests -- Aftershocks -- Thanks, Canada -- Fallout -- Yellow ribbons -- Our man in New York.

The author puts newly unclassified documents to use in recounting how Canadian ambassador Ken Taylor hid six Americans who had slipped out a side door and gathered intelligence for the U.S. government during the Iran Hostage Crisis.

In November 1979, the American embassy in Tehran was invaded by a group of radical students who took 54 workers hostage. However, six diplomats secretly escaped. Here, author Robert Wright chronicles the escapees' harrowing ordeal and the men and women who were working undercover in Tehran to bring the hostage crisis to an end.

The world watched with fear in November 1979, when Iranian students infiltrated the American embassy in Tehran. What began as a swift and seemingly short-lived takeover evolved into a crisis that would see fifty-four embassy personnel held hostage, most for 444 days. As Tehran exploded in a revolution, six American diplomats escaped. For three months, Ken Taylor, the Canadian ambassador to Iran, concealed them, always afraid that the revolutionary government would find out. Until now, the true story behind Taylor's involvement in the escape and the Eagle Claw commando raid has remained classified. This book takes us back to a major historical flashpoint and unfolds a story that brings a new understanding of the strained relationship between the United States and Iran.