Protect and Defend was published by Atria Books in 2007. Israel launches a strike on Iran’s underground nuclear enrichment facility at Isfahan — a scenario that was (and remains) a genuine possibility in real-world geopolitics. The strike succeeds technically but creates a political crisis: Iran threatens massive retaliation, the region teeters toward war, and Rapp is deployed to contain the fallout through a combination of covert operations and back-channel diplomacy.
The novel is Flynn’s most prescient: the Israeli-Iranian nuclear standoff, the debate over preemptive strikes, and the potential for regional escalation remain central concerns of Middle East policy decades later.
The Iran Scenario
Flynn’s depiction of the Israeli-Iranian nuclear standoff — the intelligence assessments, the political calculations, the military planning — draws on his deep knowledge of Middle East security policy. The scenario he describes (an Israeli strike using bunker-busting munitions against an underground facility) matches real-world contingency planning closely enough to have raised eyebrows among defence analysts.
Collecting Protect and Defend
First edition (Atria Books, New York, 2007): Boards with dust jacket.
Approximate market values:
- Fine in dust jacket: $20–$40
- Signed first edition: $50–$150
Projected values (2026–2036): Modest appreciation. The ongoing relevance of the Iranian nuclear issue gives this novel enduring interest.