Terry Waite (born 1939), an official of the Church of England, made three trips to Lebanon in an effort to free westerners held hostage there. On his third try in 1987, he himself was taken hostage and not freed until almost five years later.

Even after publication of his book Taken on Trust, chronicling his 1,763 days of being held by Islamic fundamentalists in Lebanon, Terry Waite remains a controversial figure. For many years he was a hero to the British media and public. When he was captured and throughout the years during which there was no news of his whereabouts, prayers were said in churches all over Britain for his safe return. To some he remained a saintly and courageous figure, the innocent envoy from the archbishop of Canterbury, whose intercession saved the lives of a number of Middle East hostages. But to others, notably including journalists specializing in Middle...