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Author Zuckoff, Mitchell, author.

Title The secret gate : a true story of courage and sacrifice during the collapse of Afghanistan / Mitchell Zuckoff.

Publication Info. New York : Random House, [2023]

Copies

Location Call No. Status
 Bristol, Main Library - New Materials  958.1047 ZUCKOFF    Check Shelf
 Cheshire Public Library - Adult Department Lower Level  958.1047 ZUCKOFF    Check Shelf
 Glastonbury, Welles-Turner Memorial Library - Adult Department  958.104 ZUCKOFF    Check Shelf
 Manchester, Main Library - Non Fiction  958.104 ZUCKOFF    Check Shelf
 Manchester, Whiton Branch - Non Fiction  958.104 ZUCKOFF    Check Shelf
 New Britain, Main Library - Non Fiction  958.104 ZUC    Check Shelf
 Newington, Lucy Robbins Welles Library - Adult Department  958.1047 ZUCKOFF    Check Shelf
 Plainville Public Library - Non Fiction  958.104 ZUC    Check Shelf
 Portland Public Library - New Materials  958.1047 ZUC    Unavailable
 Rocky Hill, Cora J. Belden Library - Adult Department  958.104 ZUCKOFF    Check Shelf

Edition First edition.
Description 316 pages : illustrations, map ; 25 cm.
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages [289]-299) and index.
Summary "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. Homeira tried and failed to escape with her family through the turmoil of the Kabul airport, while evacuation planes departed without Homeira and her eight-year-old son, Siawash. Meanwhile, young foreign service officer from New Jersey named Sam Aronson was enjoying a brief vacation between assignments when chaos descended upon Afghanistan. Sam immediately volunteered his services in the evacuation and got on a plane to Kabul. As he frantically raced to help rescue the more than 100,000 Americans and their Afghan helpers stranded in Kabul, Sam learned that the CIA had established a secret entrance into the Kabul 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 Homeira and Siawash 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. Homeira broke Sam's rules and withstood his profanities. They braved gunfire by Afghan Army soldiers anxious about the restive crowds outside the airport. Ultimately, they had to leave behind their family and everything young Siawash had ever known."-- Provided by publisher.
Contents Homeira -- Sam -- Kabul -- Volunteer -- Taliban -- Asad -- White scarves -- Glory gate -- Wolves -- Abbey gate -- Last chance -- Final sprint -- "Run, Homeira!" -- Epilogue: After glory.
Subject Afghan War, 2001-2021 -- Evacuation of civilians -- Biography.
Qādirī, Ḥumayrā, 1979 or 1980-
Women authors, Afghan -- Biography.
Mothers and sons -- Afghanistan -- Biography.
Mothers and sons. (OCoLC)fst01027007
Women authors, Afghan. (OCoLC)fst01910341
Afghanistan. (OCoLC)fst01205406
Afghan War (2001-2021) (OCoLC)fst01695175
Chronological Term 2001-2021
Genre/Form Biographies. (OCoLC)fst01919896
Biographies.
Other Form: Online version: Zuckoff, Mitchell. Secret gate New York : Random House, [2023] 9780593594865 (DLC) 2022034907
ISBN 9780593594841 (hardcover ; acid-free paper)
0593594843 (hardcover ; acid-free paper)
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