Iran Wars

Tehran, 1941. The world is ablaze, but in neutral Iran, life carries on—until British and Russian tanks roll in. Though much has been written about World War II, little is known of Iran's trials during the conflict. Many remember the Japanese surprise assault on Pearl Harbor, epitomizing deceitful warfare, just as Operation Barbarossa, Hitler's treacherous invasion of the Soviet Union, played a parallel tune of unexpected aggression.

In the summer of 2011, Amir Hekmati travels to Iran to visit his relatives for the first time. Three weeks into the trip, and only a few days before his return home, he is abruptly detained by Iranian Intelligence operatives and imprisoned. Amir’s arrest coincides with the US arrest of Iranian National, Mansour Arbabsiar in NYC, the man convicted of attempting to blow up the Saudi Embassy in Washington, DC. Amir Hekmati, a former US Marine and combat veteran, is subjected to torture, sentenced to death by hanging, and ultimately endures close to five years in Evin Prison.

Iran in 2021 is on the threshold of fundamental change. The clerics' supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, finds his regime increasingly weak and in jeopardy following a series of uprisings since 2017, systemic corruption, a bankrupt economy, and an explosive society. Faced with these realities, Khamenei has opted to close ranks and consolidate power in the hands of those absolutely loyal to him. Ebrahim Raisi, a notorious mass murderer, was handpicked by Khamenei, to take on the position of president of the regime.

Eine unheilvolle alte Allianz bedroht das Gleichgewicht der Weltmächte. Präsident Jack Ryan kämpft an allen Fronten: Während es innenpolitisch in den USA hoch hergeht, rückt in Osteuropa Russland in die Ukraine vor. Dann gelangen zwei russische Atomraketen in den Iran. Hängt beides miteinander zusammen? Und was hat die neue iranische Rebellenbewegung damit zu tun? Die gibt sich zwar zunächst als Verbündeter aus, macht sich jedoch schnell höchstverdächtig. Langsam entwirren sich die Fäden eines perfiden Komplotts.

Iran and Iraq served as the first WWII theater in which the US, the UK, and the USSR fought alongside each other. Historian Ashley Jackson charts the intense Allied military activity in Iran and Iraq and reveals how deeply the war impacted common people's lives. He also provides revelations about the true nature of Anglo-American relations in the region, the beginnings of the Cold War, and the continuing corrosive legacy of Western influence in these lands.

Faleeha Hassan became intimately acquainted with loss and fear while growing up in Najaf, Iraq. Now, in a deeply personal account of her life, she remembers those she has loved and lost.

A family secret revealed 40 years ago by a grandmother to her grandson is now an acclaimed Russian historical fiction novel. A Hundred Sweet Promises is the tale of the author’s grandfather, Nasrosoltan, a famed composer, who on the eve of World War I travels from Persia to Russia to study classical music at the St. Petersburg Conservatory with such masters as Rimsky-Korsakov.

The AC-130 gunship was quickly developed in 1968 to provide fire support for ground forces in Vietnam. Twenty-eight C-130 cargo aircraft were converted into AC-130s for night attack operations. The AC-130 was crude, ugly, ad hoc, and detested by many within the USAF...but it worked, and it worked well. Likewise, AC-130 crews were deemed unruly “biker gangs” but performed magnificently in every major US military operation from 1976 to 1995. Most of these combat operations were cloaked in secrecy, but records once classified for up to 20 years have now been opened.

As a 23-year veteran of the United States Navy SEAL Teams, Ryan Zinke received two Bronze Stars for battle valor and eventually rose to command the elite members of SEAL Team Six. During his career Zinke trained and commanded many of the men who would one day run the covert operations to hunt down Osama bin Laden and save Captain Phillips ( Maersk Alabama). He also served as mentor to now famous SEALs Marcus Luttrell ( Lone Survivor) and Chris Kyle ( American Sniper).

Where did writing, culture, and agriculture begin? The Middle East is the cradle of civilization - where humankind once roamed in small groups of hunter-gatherers and foraged for food and shelter, then learned to plant crops and build structures. Today, we are an advanced civilization that has conquered the skies, oceans, and even the moon. To understand how this transformation occurred, take a brief trip back into the history of the Middle East, where it all began.

Number-one best-selling author and radio host Glenn Beck exposes the real truth behind the roots of Islamic extremism in Muslim teaching in this sharply insightful audiobook that debunks commonly held assumptions about Islam and the dream of a renewed caliphate.

On August 4, 2020, a huge explosion in the heart of Beirut killed hundreds of people – it is the apocalypse of a sequence of events that have led to Lebanon’s unprecedented collapse. Journalist Dalal Mawad has interviewed tens of Lebanese and foreign women - victims of the explosion, and those stuck in Lebanon - and weaves an extraordinary story of survival, corruption and impunity.

After the terrorist attacks of September 11, Americans were left wondering how such a long-term, globally coordinated plot could have escaped detection by the CIA and taken the nation by surprise. Robert Baer was not surprised. A retired veteran of the CIA's Directorate of Operations, Baer saw firsthand how an increasingly bureaucratic CIA lost its way in the post-Cold War world and refused to adequately acknowledge and neutralize the growing threat of Islamic fundamentalist terror in the Middle East.

In March 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Lend-Lease Act, which authorized the president to give arms to any nation if it was in America’s national interest. Operation Barbarossa gave the Soviets common cause with the British, and subsequently the Americans, changing the purpose of the Lend-Lease Act. Getting supplies to the Soviets to help them resist the German armies became a strategic imperative, and Iran’s geography of bordering the Persian Gulf to the south and Soviet territory to the north brought Iran to the front and center in the strategic supply effort.

If ranked by population percentage, the Achaemenid Empire, also known as the First Persian Empire, is the largest Empire the world has ever seen with 44 percent of the world’s population belonging to it. But despite its remarkable conquests, riches, and astonishing achievements in fields such as engineering, the Achaemenid Empire has remained shrouded in mystery. But that is about to change. In this new captivating history audiobook, you will discover the truth about this startling empire.