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Saddam’s Bombmaker by Khidir Hamza
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Saddam’s Bombmaker

The Daring Escape of the Man Who Built Iraq’s Secret Weapon

$20.99

Retail price: $22.95

Discount: 8%

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Narrator Simon Vance

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Length 12 hours
Language English
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Saddam’s Bombmaker is the true saga of one man’s journey through the circles of hell. Educated at MIT and Florida State University, dedicated to a life of peaceful teaching in America, Iraqi scientist Dr. Khidhir Hamza relates how Saddam’s regime ordered him home, seduced him into a pampered life as an atomic energy official, and forced him to design a bomb. The price of refusal was torture. With the cynical help of US, French, German, and British suppliers and experts, he secretly developed Baghdad’s nuclear bomb and kept it hidden from UN inspectors after the Gulf War. The tale of his escape, his first bungled contact with CIA agents, and his flight abroad will keep listeners riveted toward a climax worthy of a well-crafted spy thriller.

Khidir Hamza is an Iraqi scientist who worked for Saddam Hussein’s nuclear program in the 1980s and early 1990s. He is the author of Saddam’s Bombmaker. Hamza was educated at MIT and Florida State University and now lives in Virginia. 

Simon Vance is the critically acclaimed narrator of approximately 400 audiobooks, winner of 27 AudioFile Earphones Awards, and a 12-time Audie Award-winner. He won an Audie in 2006 in the category of Science Fiction and was named the 2011 Best Voice in Biography and History and in 2010 Best Voice in Fiction by AudioFile magazine. 

 Vance has been a narrator for the past 25 years, and also worked for many years as a BBC Radio presenter and newsreader in London.  Some of his best-selling and most praised audiobook performances include Stieg Larsson’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Hilary Mantel’s Bring Up the Bodies (an Audie award-winner), Ian Fleming’s Casino Royale, Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, Patrick O’Brian’s Master and Commander series (all 21 titles), the new productions of Frank Herbert’s original Dune series, and Rob Gifford’s China Road (an AudioFile 2007 Book of the Year). Vance lives near San Francisco with his wife and two sons.

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Reviews

“Hamza’s keen sense of pacing and his clear and vivid writing serve to indict Iraq under Saddam, painting a detailed and convincing portrait of what it's like to live in a country under a violent dictator…Of the broadest interest to a wide spectrum of readers concerned about the fate of the world in the nuclear age.”

“Reader Whitfield deserves accolades for his flawless performance as he changes tones to mirror Hamza’s roller-coaster emotions, particularly his horror, fear, and determination, as well his anger at Hussein and the CIA. Whitfield handles difficult pronunciations with ease, adds dramatic tension, and clearly involves himself in this timely account.”

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