i need to point out that tonight the floor belongs to ben macintyre and david kippin. if there's any behavior that make our participants feel threatened or uncomfortable we reserve to ask you to leave in the nicest way possible. now for tonight, when ben releases a new book it's a cause for great personal celebration. i think two of ben's books make the cut and stay there. i'm prone to reading fiction. ben's new book "the siege," contains every element of any great thriller, terrorists driven by ideology taking over the iranian embassy in london and hold 26 people hostage, ordinary run of the mill people at the wrong place at the wrong time. ben gives us context to their demands, sketching some background into iranian conflict over the centuries. but it's at that that part that tethers me to this book, it's the characters involved in. what a cast it is, too. the bbc guys who happen to be there on visa. anyway, arab journalist who sympathizes with the plo. the terrorists themselves are so out of their element, i cringed reading about them. as this crisis played out it w