On Wings of Eagles
First edition
|
|
| Author | Ken Follett |
|---|---|
| Country | UK |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Thriller / True story |
| Publisher |
William Morrow (US) HarperCollins (UK) |
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Publication date
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1983 |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 9466033 |
| 955/.054 19 | |
| LC Class | E183.8.I55 F64 1983 |
| Preceded by | The Man from St. Petersburg (1982) |
| Followed by | Lie Down with Lions (1986) |
On Wings of Eagles is a 1983 non-fiction thriller written by British author Ken Follett. Set against the background of the Iranian revolution, it tells the true story of the rescue of Paul Chiapparone and Bill Gaylord from prison in Tehran by a team of Electronic Data Systems executives led by retired Col. Arthur D. Simons.
The story, according to Follett, is not fictionalized or a 'non-fiction novel'.
Ross Perot contacted Ken Follett, who was paid by his publisher, to write On Wings of Eagles.
Follett based his account on many conversations with the people directly involved, and had the drafts checked by them as well. Aside from changing a few names, he believes the story to be what really happened.
In December 1978 two EDS executives working in pre-revolutionary Tehran are arrested on suspicion of bribery. Bail was set at US$13 million (90 million Iranian toman). When H. Ross Perot, head of the Dallas-based company hears about it, he decides to extract his employees regardless of cost. He orders the firm's lawyers to find a way to meet the bail. He recruits a team of volunteers from his executives, led by a retired United States Army officer, to break them out by force, if necessary. This team flies to Tehran.
Their well-rehearsed plan to break the two from jail fails because of a prison transfer. The team figures out another way to rescue their colleagues. This culminates in an overland escape to Turkey. Meanwhile, riots and violence dominate the streets of Tehran escalating daily. This culminates in the Iranian Revolution led by Khomeini against the Shah, endangering the other EDS employees as well.
The incident attracted attention from the press when it occurred in early 1979. Bill Gaylord and Paul Chiapparone, two U.S. citizens working in Iran for Electronic Data Systems (EDS), a Dallas-based computer services corporation, were jailed on December 28, 1978. They were victims of an anticorruption drive mounted during the Shah's last days in Iran, a drive based more on the politics of the moment than on legality or truth. Consequently, while the prosecutor who had them arrested did not file formal charges against the two, he set bail at $12,750,000.
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Wikipedia