George Brock
Author of Out of Print: Newspapers, Journalism and the Business of News in the Digital Age
About the Author
George Brock is Professor at City University London, where he heads the prestigious Graduate School of Journalism. During his career as a journalist, he worked for the Observer and The Times, where he was Foreign Editor, Managing Editor and Saturday Editor. He has served as president of the world show more Editors Forum, and is on the board of the International Press Institute. He is a regular commentator on news and journalism in the UK and global media, and broadcasts frequently. He is an active conference speaker and reviewer? show less
Works by George Brock
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Birthdate
- 1951-11-07
- Gender
- male
- Education
- University of Oxford
- Occupations
- professor
journalist - Nationality
- UK
- Associated Place (for map)
- UK
Members
Reviews
Black Ops in the Open
A review of the Macmillan London Limited paperback (May 16, 1980?*).
See photographs at https://www.nam.ac.uk/sites/default/files/2020-04/sas1-slice.jpg and at https://greydynamics.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/sas-abseiling.jpg
SAS forces make their assault front and back of the Iranian Embassy on May 5, 1980 in order to end the six day hostage siege
I've actually already read about half of Macintyre's 2024 account and of course it has an immense amount of background detail which wasn't available to The Observer reporters back in 1980. But this earlier account is still remarkable for the material that they were able to piece together in such a short time. The biggest difference is that only the code names for the hostage takers were known to them. Macintyre is able to tell the story of the aftermath as well as the reason for the Arab Iranians' attempts to achieve publicity for their cause of seeking autonomy for the Arabistan province of Iran.
Hanging over all of this is the irony that British forces had to liberate the diplomats and staff of the Iranian Embassy in London at the same time as the American Embassy staff was being held hostage in Tehran. This was also only weeks after the failure of the USA's Delta Force rescue which ended in disaster in the Iranian desert.
John le Carré's Introduction is also interesting in hindsight as he seems to presciently see the future world of more authoritarian police actions in the face of rising tensions around the world.
Footnote
* I read somewhere that this was one of the fastest books ever published, maybe 11 days after the end of the event. I can't find that source now and I can't confirm it through any sources. show less
A review of the Macmillan London Limited paperback (May 16, 1980?*).
show more
A Bank Holiday, so everyone was home for the first live political siege to be televized on british soil - a sensitive, deeply patriotic nation deprived of the fun of war and the status of a Great Power ... A hit team of black-uniformed frogmen roping down the side of an embassy, Action Man personified, stepping off the back of our cereal packets and performing the impossible. - from the Introduction by
John Le Carré.I wanted to read Ben Macintyre's recent The Siege: A Six-Day Hostage Crisis and the Daring Special-Forces Operation That Shocked the World (2024) and then remembered that I had read this 1980 paperback shortly after the actual event. I think at the time it was due to seeing John le Carré's name on the cover, although the book itself is based on the reporting of several writers for The Observer newspaper.
See photographs at https://www.nam.ac.uk/sites/default/files/2020-04/sas1-slice.jpg and at https://greydynamics.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/sas-abseiling.jpg
SAS forces make their assault front and back of the Iranian Embassy on May 5, 1980 in order to end the six day hostage siege
I've actually already read about half of Macintyre's 2024 account and of course it has an immense amount of background detail which wasn't available to The Observer reporters back in 1980. But this earlier account is still remarkable for the material that they were able to piece together in such a short time. The biggest difference is that only the code names for the hostage takers were known to them. Macintyre is able to tell the story of the aftermath as well as the reason for the Arab Iranians' attempts to achieve publicity for their cause of seeking autonomy for the Arabistan province of Iran.
Hanging over all of this is the irony that British forces had to liberate the diplomats and staff of the Iranian Embassy in London at the same time as the American Embassy staff was being held hostage in Tehran. This was also only weeks after the failure of the USA's Delta Force rescue which ended in disaster in the Iranian desert.
John le Carré's Introduction is also interesting in hindsight as he seems to presciently see the future world of more authoritarian police actions in the face of rising tensions around the world.
Perhaps it was only my imagination, but on that day, the police car seemed to be travelling a great deal faster, and with a lot less concern for the public it was there to protect. They shot past me and all I saw was four hostile eyes looking me up and down. Perhaps they were tired... But I still wish they had smiled. Do you know that feeling these days? I seem to get it more and more.
Footnote
* I read somewhere that this was one of the fastest books ever published, maybe 11 days after the end of the event. I can't find that source now and I can't confirm it through any sources. show less
Statistics
- Works
- 3
- Members
- 48
- Popularity
- #325,719
- Rating
- 3.5
- Reviews
- 1
- ISBNs
- 9