Ben Macintyre on 45 Years Since Operation Nimrod

One of Britain’s bestselling historians offers a meticulously researched and insightful account of the famously televised 1980 SAS storming of the Iranian embassy in London – better known as Operation Nimrod. 

Ben Macintyre is one of the UK’s most prolific historians. His books, including Agent Sonya, Operation Mincemeat and The Traitor and the Spy, have sold millions of copies worldwide, earning critical acclaim for their gripping narratives and historical precision.  

In his latest book, The Siege, he directs his focus to one of the UK’s most shocking events of the late 20th century: the tense week in 1980 when six heavily armed gunmen stormed the Iranian embassy in London, taking 26 hostages and the daring – and famously televised – rescue mission that followed.

Drawing on unpublished materials, exclusive interviews with SAS members and testimony from a range of sources, including negotiators, intelligence officers and the mission’s on-site psychiatrist, Macintyre delivers the minute-by-minute account of the saga and its dramatic resolution.  

He joins Sally Warhaft at The Wheeler Centre for a special edition of The Fifth Estate.