Black Hawk Down
A Story of Modern War
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4.6 • 292 Ratings
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
Already a classic of war reporting and now reissued as a Grove Press paperback, Black Hawk Down is Mark Bowden’s brilliant account of the longest sustained firefight involving American troops since the Vietnam War. On October 3, 1993, about a hundred elite U.S. soldiers were dropped by helicopter into the teeming market in the heart of Mogadishu, Somalia. Their mission was to abduct two top lieutenants of a Somali warlord and return to base. It was supposed to take an hour. Instead, they found themselves pinned down through a long and terrible night fighting against thousands of heavily armed Somalis. The following morning, eighteen Americans were dead and more than seventy had been badly wounded.
Drawing on interviews from both sides, army records, audiotapes, and videos (some of the material is still classified), Bowden’s minute-by-minute narrative is one of the most exciting accounts of modern combat ever written—a riveting story that captures the heroism, courage, and brutality of battle.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This is military writing at its breathless best. Bowden (Bringing the Heat) has used his journalistic skills to find and interview key participants on both sides of the October 1993 raid into the heart of Mogadishu, Somalia, a raid that quickly became the most intensive close combat Americans have engaged in since the Vietnam War. But Bowden's gripping narrative of the fighting is only a framework for an examination of the internal dynamics of America's elite forces and a critique of the philosophy of sending such high-tech units into combat with minimal support. He sees the Mogadishu engagement as a portent of a disturbing future. The soldiers' mission was to seize two lieutenants of a powerful Somali warlord. Despite all their preparation and training, the mission unraveled and they found themselves fighting ad hoc battles in ad hoc groups. Eschewing the post facto rationalization that characterizes so much military journalism, Bowden presents snapshots of the chaos at the heart of combat. On page after page, in vignette after vignette, he reminds us that war is about breaking things and killing people. In Mogadishu that day, there was no room for elaborate rules of engagement. In the end, it was a task force of unglamorous "straight-leg" infantry that saved the trapped raiders. Did the U.S. err by creating elite forces that are too small to sustain the attrition of modern combat? That's one of the key questions Bowden raises in a gripping account of combat that merits thoughtful reading by anyone concerned with the future course of the country's military strategy and its relationship to foreign policy.
Customer Reviews
Exceptional
In this military classic, Mark Bowden delivers the definitive story of the Battle of Mogadishu, an incident in modern military history that will be remembered for decades to come. It is a haunting portrait of modern warfare, one that still should resound just as loudly today as it did in 1993 when images of the bodies of American soldiers and airmen being dragged through the streets of "The Mog" were seen around the world.
Nearly twenty years later, the lesson here rings loud and clear, one that is incredibly relevant to twenty-first century warfare and our efforts in counterinsurgency. Fluidly and eloquently, Bowden's account describes the horrors faced by the men of Task Force Ranger and their bravery in combatting overwhelming odds, and succeeding, while also making it clear how this singular event changed American post-Cold War ideals and US foreign policy.
An absolute must read; liberal or conservative, Republican or Democrat, pacifist or war monger, and everything in between.
For further reading:
"The Battle of Mogadishu" by Matthew Eversmann (Former Ranger sergeant, one of the "chalk" leaders)
"In the Company of Heroes" by Michael Durant (Former 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment - The Night Stalkers - pilot shot down and captured during the battle)
"The Night Stalkers" by Mike Durant
"SEAL Team Six" by Howard Wasdin (also present at the Battle of Mogadishu)
Black Hawk Down
This was one of the best books I've ever read. It shows in detail what so many people fail to remember. That men, boyfriends, husbands, sons, and fathers died over there for something ridiculous, something that no one else cared about. If I knew how, I would personally thank Mark Bowden for this novel.
AMAZING!
I read Black Hawk Down while I was in college. Each page is filled with information, down to the smallest detail.