The Siege of Mecca is an astonishing work of reportage; a gripping account of one of the most dramatic events of the twentieth century. And, until now, one of the most shrouded in secrecy. On the morning of 20th November 1979, the first of a new Muslim century, with world attention focused on Tehran as the hostage crisis entered a third week, hundreds of gunmen, from more than a dozen countries, armed with rifles smuggled inside coffins stormed the Grand Mosque in Mecca. These men were defiling Islam's holiest shrine believing the Saudi royal family had become corrupt, and sought a return to the glory of uncompromising Islam. With nearly 100,000 worshippers trapped inside the holy compound, Mecca's bloody siege lasted two weeks, causing hundreds of deaths and inflaming Muslim rage around the world. This dramatic story was barely covered in the international media in pre-CNN, pre-al-Jazeera days, as Saudi Arabia imposed an information blackout and kept foreign correspondents away.