Antonio Mendez

Vylíčení nejlepší a nejnebezpečnější akce CIA, při které se jejím specialistům ve spolupráci s Hollywoodem podařilo v roce 1980 dostat z povstaleckého Teheránu šest amerických diplomatů díky jejich perfektně vymyšlenému přestrojení. Autor pracoval v CIA jako šéf sekce maskování a v knize odhaluje i velmi zajímavé informace jak ze zákulisí celé CIA a zvláštních útvarů, tak z historického pozadí diplomatických vztahů obou zemí. Vychází z autentických materiálů CIA, které byly uvolněny před několika lety. Kniha se stala předlohou stejnojmenného filmu Argo v hlavní roli s americkým hercem Benem Affleckem. Film se zařadil mezi kandidáty na příští Oscary.

Argo by Antonio Mendez and Matt Baglio - the declassified CIA story behind the Oscar-winning film. It is the winner of 'best picture' at the academy awards, The Baftas and The Golden Globes Tehran, November 1979. Militant students stormed the American embassy and held sixty Americans captive for a gruelling 444 days. But until now the CIA has never revealed the twist to the Iran Hostage Crisis: six Americans escaped. The escape plot was run by Antonio Mendez, head of the CIA's extraction team and a master of disguise. Mendez came up with an idea so daring and potentially foolish that it seemed destined for Hollywood ...and indeed it was. He invented a fake sci-fi film called 'Argo' (from the actual name of the CIA mission, a reference to Jason and the Argonauts). After announcing the production to the movie industry, Mendez put together a team of real 1970s Hollywood actors, directors and producers - along with covert CIA officers. They would travel to revolutionary Iran under a foreign film visa, and while 'scouting locations' throughout the country they would track down the six Americans who were hiding out. After giving them false identities as part of the film crew, they would spirit them back across the border. One part 'Ocean's 11' and another part 'Black Hawk Down', Mendez's mind-bogglingly complicated and risky gamble paid off: each escapee was extracted without a shot being fired. Mendez is considered one of the greatest officers in CIA history. The story of this, his greatest mission, has never been told. Now an acclaimed film directed by and starring Ben Affleck, with Bryan Cranston, Alan Arkin and John Goodman' Antonio Mendez was cited by Richard Clarke as one of the top two or three CIA agents in history. His He received the Intelligence Star for his rescue of six Americans from revolutionary Iran, and has received the CIA's Intelligence Medal of Merit and the Trailblazer Medallion. He continues to consult for the CIA. He and his wife, also a famed agent, were technical consultants on the television series 'The Agency' and founding board members of the International Spy Museum in Washington. Matt Baglio is the author of the New York Times bestseller The Rite: The Making of a Modern Exorcist. His writing appears regularly in the Daily Mail and the Associated Press.

The New York Times Bestseller Recently retired WWE superstar AJ Mendez Brooks is a powerhouse--strong, quirky, and totally confident. But that wasn't always the case. With humor and tremendous heart, she opens up for the first time about her harrowing struggle to understand her demons and the diagnosis that helped her gain control over her life. Everything I was told should be my greatest insecurities and weaknesses, everything that I've been labeled--SHORT, NERDY, SKINNY, WEAK, IMPULSIVE, UGLY, TOMBOY, POOR, REBEL, LOUD, FREAK, CRAZY--turned out to be my greatest strengths. I didn't become successful in spite of them. I became successful because of them. Growing up AJ was a quiet girl trying to act "normal" when she felt anything but. As her family struggled with drug addiction, poverty, and mental illness, she found escape through comic books and video games, and was inspired by the tough and unconventional female characters. It wasn't until she discovered pro wrestling that she learned superheroes could be real. Determined to become the superhero she'd always admired, AJ trained and sacrificed for years to achieve her dream of wrestling professionally. Yet she quickly faced industry pressure to play the role of the damsel in distress and to dress more provocatively to cater to male fans. But she fought back and created an ass-kicking alter ego that was a genuine representation of herself: nerdy, enthusiastic, and a little bit crazy. With humor and tremendous heart, AJ opens up for the first time about her harrowing struggle to understand her demons and the mental illness diagnosis that helped her gain control over her life. What most people view as a hardship, AJ embraced as inspira-tion for her superhero persona, shattering the stigma attached to mental illness. Charting her journey from a scrappy girl in an unstable home to an empowered wrestling champion, Crazy Is My Superpower is an un-flinchingly honest story and brave confessional about her long road to self-acceptance.

Vylíčení nejlepší a nejnebezpečnější akce CIA, při které se jejím specialistům ve spolupráci s Hollywoodem podařilo v roce 1980 dostat z povstaleckého Teheránu šest amerických diplomatů díky jejich perfektně vymyšlenému přestrojení. Autor pracoval v CIA jako šéf sekce maskování a v knize odhaluje i velmi zajímavé informace jak ze zákulisí celé CIA a zvláštních útvarů, tak z historického pozadí diplomatických vztahů obou zemí. Vychází z autentických materiálů CIA, které byly uvolněny před několika lety. Kniha se stala předlohou stejnojmenného filmu Argo v hlavní roli s americkým hercem Benem Affleckem. Film se zařadil mezi kandidáty na příští Oscary.