90 Minutes at Entebbe

William Stevenson, Uri Dan

• Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing
• Year: 2015
• Topic: History
• eBook ISBN:
  9781629148496
• Subtopic: African History
• Index: History

The incredible true story of an Israeli mission that rescued 103 hostages from a hijacked jetliner in Uganda, by the author of A Man Called Intrepid. On June 27, 1976, Air France Flight 139 was hijacked by terrorists and flown to Entebbe Airport in Uganda. In the following agonizing days, Israeli passengers were singled out and held hostage. A week later on July 4, one hundred Israeli commandos raced 2, 500 miles from Israel to Entebbe, landed in the middle of the night, and in a heart-stopping mission that lasted ninety minutes, killed all guerillas and freed 103 hostages. In captivating detail, Stevenson provides a fast-paced hour-by-hour narration from the hijacking to the final ninety-minute mission. In addition to discussing the incredible rescue itself, Stevenson also covers the political backdrop behind the hijacking, especially Ugandan President Idi Amin’s support for the hijackers, which marked one of the first times a leader of a nation had backed terrorist activities. An illustration of one nation’s undying spirit, heroism, and commitment to its people in the face of threat, Operation Thunderbolt has become a legendary antiterrorist tale.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Dedication
• Copyright
• Contents
• Introduction
• 1. Where Is Flight 139?
• 2. An African Dictator Takes Over
• 3. Terrorism and Mad Regimes
• 4. The Options
• 5. “Where the Hell Is Uganda?”
• 6. The Terrorists’ Ultimatum
• 7. Track A: Surrender?
• 8. Shift to Track B: Attack
• 9. Dr. Hadad: Planner of Terror
• 10. Intelligence Filters In
• 11. Amin: The PLO Puppet
• 12. The General Staff Examines Track B
• 13. The Invisibles
• 14. The Night of the Dry Run
• 15. The Hippos Assemble
• 16. Thunderbolt: GO!
• 17. Into Africa
• 18. “Yonni’s Been Hit!”
• 19. Dora Bloch Vanishes
• 20. “Refuel at Nairobi!”
• 21. Idi Gets the News from Tel Aviv
• 22. “I Am Distressed for Thee, My Brother Jonathan”
• A Personal Note
• United Nations Security Council Debate
• Transcript of Three Telephone Conversations Between Colonel Baruch Bar-Lev and President Idi Amin