Sign-In
Cart
Entebbe: Diary of a Hostage
Hardcover
Biographies GeneralReligion General General World History
Publisher Price: $18.00
ISBN13: 9789657864333
Publisher: Gefen Books
Published: Sep 18 2026
Pages: 98
Weight: 0.95
Height: 0.57 Width: 7.05 Depth: 9.58
Language: English
This book is a firsthand account of the 1976 hijacking of Air France Flight 139 and the subsequent Israeli rescue mission at Entebbe, Uganda. What makes it unique is that it is based on a diary kept during captivity by hostage Yehuda Gottlieb, rather than on memories recorded years later. His daughter, Ester Smith, translated and prepared the diary for publication nearly fifty years after the event.
The Hijacking
On June 27, 1976, terrorists hijacked the Air France flight shortly after it left Athens. Armed with rifles and grenades, they took control of the aircraft and eventually flew it to Entebbe Airport in Uganda. The passengers were forced to obey under constant threat of death.
Life in Captivity
The bulk of the book describes the eight days the hostages spent in the old Entebbe terminal. Gottlieb records:
- Overcrowded and unsanitary conditions.
- Constant fear and uncertainty about whether they would survive.
- The role of Ugandan dictator Idi Amin, who presented himself as a mediator while cooperating with the hostage-takers.
- The psychological strain of isolation, rumors, and repeated terrorist demands.
One of the most powerful themes is how ordinary people maintained dignity and mutual support under extreme stress. The hostages organized themselves, cared for one another, and tried to preserve order despite believing they might be killed.
One thing that stands out from the manuscript is that it is less a military history of the raid and more a human story of what it felt like to be one of the hostages waiting, hour by hour, not knowing whether rescue or death would come first.
Also in
Biographies General
Bluesland: Portraits of Thirteen Major American Blues Masters
Pete Welding (ED.)
Toby Byron (ED.)
Hardcover
Karl Popper - The Formative Years, 1902 1945: Politics and Philosophy in Interwar Vienna
Hacohen, Malachi Haim
Hardcover
The Children of Athena: Greek Intellectuals in the Age of Rome: 150 Bc0-400 AD
Freeman, Charles
Hardcover
Make It a Double: From Wretched to Wondrous: Tales of One Woman's Lifelong Discovery of Whisky
Sackier, Shelley
Hardcover
The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race
Isaacson, Walter
Hardcover
Agents of Chaos: Thomas King Forçade, High Times, and the Paranoid End of the 1970s
Howe, Sean
Hardcover
An Enemy Such as This: Larry Casuse and the Fight for Native Liberation in One Family on Two Continents Over Three Centuries
Correia, David
Hardcover
Better Living Through Birding: Notes from a Black Man in the Natural World
Cooper, Christian
Hardcover
Florence Kelley and the Nation's Work: The Rise of Womens Political Culture, 1830-1900
Sklar, Kathryn Kish
Paperback
The Secret Life of the Savoy: Glamour and Intrigue at the World's Most Famous Hotel
Williams, Olivia
Paperback
The Devil's Diary: Alfred Rosenberg and the Stolen Secrets of the Third Reich
Wittman, Robert K.
Kinney, David
Paperback
The Badger: The Life of Bernard Hinault and the Legacy of French Cycling
Fotheringham, William
Paperback
Seafaring Women: Adventures of Pirate Queens, Female Stowaways, and Sailors' Wives
Cordingly, David
Paperback
Living with a Wild God: A Nonbeliever's Search for the Truth about Everything
Ehrenreich, Barbara
Paperback
The Butcher, the Embezzler, and the Fall Guy: A Family Memoir of Scandal and Greed in the Meat Industry
Cherington, Gretchen
Paperback
My Own Devices: True Stories from the Road on Music, Science, and Senseless Love
Dessa Wander
Hardcover
Nobody's Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice
Giuffre, Virginia Roberts
Hardcover
How to Be Okay When Nothing Is Okay: Tips and Tricks That Kept Me Alive, Happy, and Creative in Spite of Myself
Lawson, Jenny
Hardcover
Dangerous, Dirty, Violent, and Young: A Fugitive Family in the Revolutionary Underground
Dohrn, Zayd Ayers
Hardcover
Catch the Devil: A True Story of Murder, Deception, and Injustice on the Gulf Coast
Colloff, Pamela
Hardcover
A Walk in the Park: The True Story of a Spectacular Misadventure in the Grand Canyon
Fedarko, Kevin
Paperback
Family of Spies: A World War II Story of Nazi Espionage, Betrayal, and the Secret History Behind Pearl Harbor
Kuehn, Christine
Hardcover