The Secret Gate: A True Story of Courage and Sacrifice During the Collapse of Afghanistan
4.5/5
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this ebook
“Reads like a thriller . . . The Secret Gate is a fast-paced escape narrative, but it is also a morally complex interrogation.”—The Washington Post (Best Books of the Year)
When the U.S. began its withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Afghan Army instantly collapsed, Homeira Qaderi was marked for death at the hands of the Taliban. A celebrated author, academic, and champion for women's liberation, Homeira had achieved celebrity in her home country by winning custody of her son in a contentious divorce, a rarity in Afghanistan's patriarchal society. As evacuation planes departed above, Homeira was caught in the turmoil at the Kabul Airport, trying and failing to secure escape for her and her eight-year-old son, Siawash, along with her parents and the rest of their family.
Meanwhile, a young American diplomat named Sam Aronson was enjoying a brief vacation between assignments when chaos descended upon Afghanistan. Sam immediately volunteered to join the skeleton team of remaining officials at Kabul Airport, frantically racing to help rescue the more than 100,000 stranded Americans and their Afghan helpers. When Sam learned that the CIA had established a secret entrance into the airport two miles away from the desperate crowds crushing toward the gates, he started bringing families directly through, personally rescuing as many as fifty-two people in a single day.
On the last day of the evacuation, Sam was contacted by Homeira's literary agent, who persuaded him to help her escape. He needed to risk his life to get them through the gate in the final hours before it closed forever. He borrowed night-vision goggles and enlisted a Dari-speaking colleague and two heavily armed security contract “shooters.” He contacted Homeira with a burner phone, and they used a flashlight code signal borrowed from boyhood summer camp. For her part, Homeira broke Sam’s rules and withstood his profanities. Together they braved gunfire by Afghan Army soldiers anxious about the restive crowds outside the airport. Ultimately, to enter the airport, Homeira and Siawash would have to leave behind their family and everything they had ever known.
The Secret Gate tells the thrilling, emotional tale of a young man's courage and a mother and son’s skin-of-the-teeth escape from a homeland that is no longer their own.
Mitchell Zuckoff
Mitchell Zuckoff is the Sumner M. Redstone Professor of Narrative Studies at Boston University. He covered 9/11 for the Boston Globe and wrote the lead news story on the day of the attacks. Zuckoff is the author of seven previous works of nonfiction, including the number one New York Times bestseller 13 Hours: The Inside Account of What Really Happened in Benghazi, which became the basis of the Paramount Pictures movie of the same name. His earlier books also include the New York Times bestsellers Lost in Shangri-La and Frozen in Time. As a member of the Boston Globe Spotlight Team, he was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in investigative reporting and the winner of numerous national awards. He lives outside Boston.
Read more from Mitchell Zuckoff
Lost in Shangri-La: A True Story of Survival, Adventure, and the Most Incredible Rescue Mission of World War II Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Frozen in Time: An Epic Story of Survival and a Modern Quest for Lost Heroes of World War II Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fall and Rise: The Story of 9/11 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Secret Gate: a true story of courage and sacrifice during the collapse of Afghanistan Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSaved at the Seawall: Stories from the September 11 Boat Lift Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related to The Secret Gate
Related ebooks
No Good Men Among the Living: America, the Taliban, and the War through Afghan Eyes Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cry of Angels: The Wrath of War Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Study Guide for Chaim Potok's "Davita's Harp" Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Study Guide for Lucille Clifton's "In the Inner City" Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Study Guide for James Welch's "Winter in the Blood" Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Black Man's Journey in America: Glimpses of Islam, Conversations and Travels Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMud on the Stars Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAmerican Tapestry: The Story of the Black, White, and Multiracial Ancestors of Michelle Obama Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Wrong Enemy: America in Afghanistan, 2001–2014 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hanna's Promise: A Story of Grace and Hope Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Woman Among Warlords: The Extraordinary Story of an Afghan Who Dared to Raise Her Voice Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Ladies of the Rachmaninoff Eyes Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fifty Years in Chains: Or, the Life of an American Slave Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Human Stain: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Civil Wars of Julia Ward Howe: A Biography Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Study Guide to Beloved by Toni Morrison Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHe Included Me: The Autobiography of Sarah Rice Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Harlem: People, Power and Politics 1900-1950 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWinter in Kandahar: Life in Afghanistan before the taliban Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings101 Awesome Women Who Changed Our World Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Madame President: The Extraordinary Journey of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5We Are Afghan Women: Voices of Hope Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Tie That Bound Us: The Women of John Brown's Family and the Legacy of Radical Abolitionism Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Study Guide for Gwendolyn Brooks's "Home" Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsI Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (SparkNotes Literature Guide) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Study Guide for Toni Morrison's "Sula" Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLorraine Hansberry: The Life Behind A Raisin in the Sun Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Obama on Edge: Creative Expressions from a Historic Time Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Study Guide for Lucille Clifton's "Homage to My Hips" Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
World Politics For You
The Devil's Chessboard: Allen Dulles, the CIA, and the Rise of America's Secret Government Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Rise of the Fourth Reich: The Secret Societies That Threaten to Take Over America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Hundred Years' War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917–2017 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Gaza in Crisis: Reflections on the U.S.-Israeli War on the Palestinians Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5On Palestine Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Great Reset: And the War for the World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Great Awakening: Defeating the Globalists and Launching the Next Great Renaissance Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ten Myths About Israel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Girl with Seven Names: A North Korean Defector’s Story Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Lemon Tree: An Arab, a Jew, and the Heart of the Middle East Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Gulag Archipelago: The Authorized Abridgement Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Summary of The 1619 Project: by Nikole Hannah-Jones - A Comprehensive Summary Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings77 Days of February: Living and Dying in Ukraine, Told by the Nation’s Own Journalists Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Fateful Triangle: The United States, Israel, and the Palestinians (Updated Edition) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Putin's People: How the KGB Took Back Russia and Then Took On the West Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Israel: A Concise History of a Nation Reborn Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Gulag Archipelago [Volume 2]: An Experiment in Literary Investigation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5From Beirut to Jerusalem Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Palestine: A Socialist Introduction Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5My Promised Land: the triumph and tragedy of Israel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5What's Really Happening on Planet Earth Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5The Afghanistan Papers: A Secret History of the War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A World Without Jews Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Knowing Too Much: Why the American Jewish Romance with Israel is Coming to an End Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Six Day War: The Breaking of the Middle East Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Light in Gaza: Writings Born of Fire Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How to Read Donald Duck: Imperialist Ideology in the Disney Comic Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dear Leader: My Escape from North Korea Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for The Secret Gate
6 ratings0 reviews