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Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War

4.24 of 5 stars 4.24 · rating details · 20,070 ratings · 727 reviews

The riveting, close-up account of a 1993 firefight in Mogadishu, Somalia, Black Hawk Down is one of the most vivid and thorough reports of modern combat ever written.

Hardcover, 320 pages

Published February 10th 1999 by Atlantic Monthly Press (first published 1999)

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Jun 05, 2013 Jur marked it as to-read · review of another edition

The book provides an in depth account of the U.S. (not U.N.) operation to capture two main partners of General Aidid, leader of the Habr Gidr, the clan dominating Somalia at the time.

Last weekend I also watched the movie (directed by Ridley Scott) and there's a couple of disconcerting differences, the main being that the movie strips out most of the uncomfortable parts of the book. That is the very strong criticism on the leadership (although Bowden often uses the Delta Force participants to vo...more

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Jan 12, 2012 Joni rated it 5 of 5 stars

Okay, first of all, I am not usually the person that likes "war" type books. But, I have wanted to read this book for awhile. I remember when this actually happened, but being a freshman in high school, I had bigger things going on... Throughout this book, I kept asking myself "who are these guys??" It amazes me what wonderful guys are serving my country. I had to giggle when a group of men were holed up in a shack with many of the Somalians closing in on them, blood was seeping everywhere from...more

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Oct 27, 2008 Michael C rated it 5 of 5 stars

Black Hawk Down
Black Hawk Down is a nonfiction novel written by Mark Bowden. When he decided to write this book, the government wouldn’t give him any information, but when he attended one of the soldiers funerals, he found that many soldiers were glad to tell their story to someone. By compiling their memories and suffering, he wrote this amazing novel. This is the story of 100 marines against an enemy of over a million. When a simple kidnapping mission goes badly, the men are stuck out in a fo...more Black Hawk Down
Black Hawk Down is a nonfiction novel written by Mark Bowden. When he decided to write this book, the government wouldn’t give him any information, but when he attended one of the soldiers funerals, he found that many soldiers were glad to tell their story to someone. By compiling their memories and suffering, he wrote this amazing novel. This is the story of 100 marines against an enemy of over a million. When a simple kidnapping mission goes badly, the men are stuck out in a foreign city for over twelve hours. Other books he has written include Road Work, The Best Game Ever, and Guests of Ayatollah.
This book was the most vivid war narrative I have ever read. By actually talking to soldiers that were in the battle, their emotions and characteristics paint a perfect picture in your mind. I loved how the author gives background info on each soldier, so you were much more sympathetic about their situation. The specific details about the city (Somalia), weaponry and gear, helped you to visualize the entire battle. It was a fast paced book that was difficult to put down, for fear that you may miss something in the battle. For instance, when the soldiers are trapped overnight in a foreign city, he describes how every gunshot, sound and shadow changed their outlook on life and the military. Some decided that this was what they lived for, and others decided that they wanted to see their wife and children.
Though it was extremely enjoyable, Black Hawk Down was an extremely confusing book with too many characters. I felt that the background information on the characters was enjoyable, but he gave too much on too many people. He often talked about 5-10 people, and then returned to the battle. Not only do you have to remember all the characters you just learned, but the ones from before also. When he resumed talking about the battle, it was difficult to remember who was who. I often had to reread passages from past pages to remember who each man was, and what his job was. I probably would have focused more on a few central characters, in order to make the book a little less confusing.
Besides this one weakness, the book was a thoroughly enjoyable read from start to finish. It combined great characterization with unbelievable detail to create the ultimate non-fiction war novel. Any reader that enjoys fast paced, exhilarating, historic military battles and intense books would be extremely fond of this book.
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Nov 05, 2008 Graham E. rated it 4 of 5 stars

Black Hawk Down Book Review

Black Hawk Down by Mark Bowden is about a mission gone awry. Mark Bowden was born in July 17, 1951 in St. Louis, Missouri. He graduated from Loyola College in Maryland and is a reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer. The mission is to capture some of Mohamad Farrak Aidid’s militia’s officials in Mogadishu, Somalia. While trying to capture two prime suspects, the forces engage in fierce combat that kill many fine Rangers and Delta Force operatives.
I enjoyed the battle...more Black Hawk Down Book Review

Black Hawk Down by Mark Bowden is about a mission gone awry. Mark Bowden was born in July 17, 1951 in St. Louis, Missouri. He graduated from Loyola College in Maryland and is a reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer. The mission is to capture some of Mohamad Farrak Aidid’s militia’s officials in Mogadishu, Somalia. While trying to capture two prime suspects, the forces engage in fierce combat that kill many fine Rangers and Delta Force operatives.
I enjoyed the battle a lot because I am a war nut and love the military. I liked how in detail the story was because it has with many narratives and direct quotes from some people. During reading the book I felt like I was actually in the battle, so I started ducking while my trigger finger went nuts. I actually might have ducked for cover a couple times which is sad to admit. I also enjoyed the adjectives that were used because they were eloquent, but still gave me a sense of the battle.
A weakness I found in this novel is that the point of view changes way too much. The book was so interesting that while the narrative changes I am still on the ground trying to dodge bullets while shooting back. While the story is now talking about their families and how they grew up. At one point in the novel it starts in one person’s point of view than half way down the page it changes to someone else’s point of view that has no relevance to the first person’s point of view. Also the narratives were very uninteresting. The book changes sometimes to very boring parts of the story while there are battles on the other side the book is talking about birds and scenery.
Overall I thought the book was exquisite minding some inconsistencies. I believe that everyone should read this book about survival and the will to bring an area to safety instead of poverty. I would read this book again because the story is sad yet patriotic. When I finished this book I felt torn between signing up for the army or going to an anti war protest.
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Graham E. Black Hawk Down by Mark Bowden is about a mission gone awry. Mark Bowden was born in July 17, 1951 in St. Louis, Missouri. He graduated from Loyola Co...more Black Hawk Down by Mark Bowden is about a mission gone awry. Mark Bowden was born in July 17, 1951 in St. Louis, Missouri. He graduated from Loyola College in Maryland and is a reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer. The mission is to capture some of Mohamad Farrak Aidid’s militia’s officials in Mogadishu, Somalia. While trying to capture two prime suspects, the forces engage in fierce combat that kill many fine Rangers and Delta Force operatives.
I enjoyed the battle a lot because I am a war nut and love the military. I liked how in detail the story was because it has with many narratives and direct quotes from some people. During reading the book I felt like I was actually in the battle, so I started ducking while my trigger finger went nuts. I actually might have ducked for cover a couple times which is sad to admit. I also enjoyed the adjectives that were used because they were eloquent, but still gave me a sense of the battle.
A weakness I found in this novel is that the point of view changes way too much. The book was so interesting that while the narrative changes I am still on the ground trying to dodge bullets while shooting back. While the story is now talking about their families and how they grew up. At one point in the novel it starts in one person’s point of view than half way down the page it changes to someone else’s point of view that has no relevance to the first person’s point of view. Also the narratives were very uninteresting. The book changes sometimes to very boring parts of the story while there are battles on the other side the book is talking about birds and scenery.
Overall I thought the book was exquisite minding some inconsistencies. I believe that everyone should read this book about survival and the will to bring an area to safety instead of poverty. I would read this book again because the story is sad yet patriotic. When I finished this book I felt torn between signing up for the army or going to an anti war protest.
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Oct 29, 2008 02:23pm

Apr 28, 2008 Jason rated it 5 of 5 stars

In BLACK HAWK DOWN, Mark Bowden delivers a very pwerful story of the event that took place in Mogadishu Somalia, october 3rd, 1993. The United States Army was stationed in Mogadishu to help settle the Somali government problems facing food issues, as you probably know from watching the movie "Black Hawk Down." The book however sticks extremly close to the movie, but is also longer and more detailed throughout the whole story. The book also describes the view from the Somalian side as intense and...more

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Jun 14, 2007 Darren rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Modern History, Foreign Policy

Shelves: alreadyread

Black Hawk Down. This is a very good book. It was made into a movie a few years ago. Surprisingly, the movie stays quite true to the book. You certainly get to know the characters a bit better in the book. It also illustrates the Somali side of the story, which basically goes like this, “The Americans came with their super-weapons and slaughtered many of our leaders. Some of us are caught in the middle. Then one of their helicopters crashed into my house. Most of us want some payback. Let’s shoo...more

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Mar 01, 2008 Mike rated it 4 of 5 stars

The movie is a gore-fest, but the book chronicles all the background intricacies that you can't find in a movie (of course). One highlight for me: When I finished reading the book, my son, who was in Iraq at the time, told me he had met one of the men who survived this incident. However, he also told me he met this man as he was being flown out for a cancer checkup. This man who had escaped this brutal attack had cancer two years later. After surviving that, he went on to go back into the Army a...more

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Nov 16, 2010 'Aussie Rick' rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favourites, read-military

This is one of those great books that you can't put down; it reads like a novel, a fast paced narrative that can sometimes make you forget that it's a true life drama where real people die. I enjoyed reading this book and it's nice to see an honest appraisal of a stuffed-up mission, which was no fault of the men on the ground.

This is a well presented account of the men of the US Army Rangers and Delta Force troops involved in a mission to capture a pair of high-ranking deputies to warlord Moham...more

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Jun 10, 2013 Booknblues rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: africa, war

Black Hawk Down
By Mark Bowden
4 stars
pp. 486

I am not one to shy away from difficult subjects, but Mark Bowden's Black Hawk Down is one of the most disturbing books which I have read in recent years and it is disturbing on so many levels, the loss of life, the senselessness, the clash of cultures, the fact that the necessary time was not taken to learn the essentials lessons from this, but instead a rush to put the past and Somalia behind us.

Black Hawk Down is an account of a battle fought on Octo...more

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May 16, 2013 Aaron Arnold rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: history, read-in-2013, war

I'd seen the film version of this book when it was released back when I was in high school. In retrospect I was foolish for not immediately tracking down the book, because this is a nearly flawless account of the Battle of Mogadishu. The pacing is excellent, the soldiers get plenty of characterization and detail, and the sense of chaos and confusion that comes with war is perfectly conveyed while still keeping the reader informed of who's doing what to whom and with what kind of bullets. There's...more

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Jan 05, 2011 Brian rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

10/11/02 - 8/10

Black Hawk Down was a very good look at what modern battles are like. Surprisingly, it was even more harrowing and intense than the movie. The book added details that made the excursion look even more perilous. All the background detail helped flesh out the novel a lot more than the movie and made it easier to follow what was going on and who was who (the index helped a lot too!). The writing style was very readable, but not really told as a story. It was more like reporting that...more

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Dec 26, 2008 David rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book describes a battle in 1993 in Somalia - I remember it, as do many Americans of the time, because of the way the bodies of slain American soldiers were abused and paraded through the streets. It was a tough time for the US forces.

On October 3, about a hundred elite US soldiers were dropped by helicopter into Mogadishu with a mission of capturing two top aides of a Somali warlord. The raid was supposed to take an hour. But when two Black Hawk helicopters were shot down by the Somalis and...more

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Jun 10, 2013 Chris Incandenza rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: mark-bowden, history, middle-school, nonfiction, war, stupid-shit-i-read-for-some-reason

One of those books I read when I was just starting to move out of young adult stuff and wanted to see what else was out there. I don't really remember all that much about it, beyond that Bowden seemed utterly fascinated with describing military gear and procedure in almost exhausting detail (and yet, not a lot of those descriptions really stuck in my head) and that he didn't do a very good job of making his characters seem real, despite the fact that this is based around real people and real eve...more

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Apr 26, 2013 Bryan Salgado rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book is better than the movie, that's almost everything I can say about it. I mean, The story line and how he introduces the action that is happening around the characters. This book is also very informative and kinda gives you that inside feel of how the war in Somalia was really like but also how it felt to be a soldier out there fighting not knowing what could pop out of the corner and attack you. I've heard that Mark Bowden did some research to get all of the facts in this book as accur...more

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Apr 05, 2013 Justin Kerekes rated it 4 of 5 stars

Mark Bowden's purpose in writing "Black Hawk Down" is to inform the American people of the battle between Somalian rebels and American troops. The battle which occurred in 1993 in the country of Somalia was drastic. Bowden recounts the true story where the American Rangers were sent on a mission to capture Somalian warlords. It was noted as the longest firefight for American troops since the Vietnam War and prior to the War in Iraq. Bowden does an excellent job in making the public aware of wha...more Mark Bowden's purpose in writing "Black Hawk Down" is to inform the American people of the battle between Somalian rebels and American troops. The battle which occurred in 1993 in the country of Somalia was drastic. Bowden recounts the true story where the American Rangers were sent on a mission to capture Somalian warlords. It was noted as the longest firefight for American troops since the Vietnam War and prior to the War in Iraq. Bowden does an excellent job in making the public aware of what really went on during the battle.

This book has an impact that makes the audience realize how real war is. The truth about what American troops must endure is exposed in this book. It makes the audience have a truer understanding of the work that our nation's men and women do. In the book, Bowden writes "Black Hawk Down is a reminder that the seemingly inhuman machine of the American military is made up of individual men and women, often serving at great personal sacrifice..." (Bowden 429.) This book will definitely have a lasting value on the audience because of the facts it contains about American forces. Many soldiers risk their lives for us and some of them do not return home.

"Black Hawk Down" is a very well written book. Mark Bowden tells the story of many Rangers encounters with the Somalian street-fighters. For example, Mike Durant, Chief Warrant Officer and pilot of the Black Hawk, has his experience described by Bowden. The book states "He was...varying his airspeed and altitude, trying to make his Black Hawk a more challenging target...just as things were starting to make sense below...he felt his chopper hit something hard" (Bowden 123.) The book gives great details and elaborates heavily on situations where some of the troops don't survive. The mere fact that Bowden gathered all of this information is incredibly intriguing.

The book was captivating and inspiring. The book kind of makes me want to serve my country, but at the same time it makes me not want to because so many people lose their lives. Although I enjoyed the book, it was very difficult to find any relations between any of the characters and myself. These troops have dedicated their service and lives' to our country. I just feel that I could never be as courageous or heroic as these men and women that serve our country. I will always be grateful for our men and women in service because they protect us no matter what the situation is. The book was the complete opposite of boring. It was almost as if there was too much drama! However, I am a bit sorrowful for the soldiers that were lost in the battle.

The greatest strength of "Black Hawk Down" is the amount of detail Bowden incorporates into the book. He includes examples such as "The Battle of the Black Sea...is one that America has preferred to forget. The images it produced of dead soldiers dragged by jeering mobs through the streets of Mogadishu are among the most horrible and disturbing in our history..." (Bowden 406.) Bowden clarifies exactly what happened during the troops encounter with the Somalians in 1993. There really isn't a greatest weakness of this book. The only thing that I do not like in this book is the context of the story. I dislike the fact that the mission was unsuccessful. It makes it seem like all of those soldiers died in vain because the job was not completed. My only wish is that the outcome would have been different and in our country's favor. I would definitely recommend this book to a friend. This is a true story and many Americans today have never even heard of this battle. I want more Americans to be exposed to what really happens when our troops enter firefights. The scene is not pretty, but it is reality. This is a very good book and I encourage many more people to get there hands on it as soon as possible.(less)

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Feb 07, 2013 Carl rated it 5 of 5 stars

I am not sure how many people will remember this incident, which happened 20 years ago. An American force of about 100 soldiers, part of a UN aid mission to Somalia, was trapped in the middle of Mogadishu by thousands of supporters of a war lord, and was almost wiped out. The Somalis dragged the bodies of two American soldiers through the streets.

The author of the book had video tape and recorded radio transmissions to work with, and tells a detailed story of the battle, which lasted about a day...more

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Dec 03, 2012 Davian Ross rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: action

This happens to be one of the most exciting, intriguing, and gruesome stories that i have ever read. The struggles of war come to life in this well written book by Mark Bowden. Everything comes to life while reading this book. It goes into every small detail so that you have the feeling that you are there with them. From the description of the different guns that they use to the types of vehicles that they use, its all very real. It seems like one of those epic made up battle stories but this wa...more

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Nov 26, 2012 Jonathan Ortega rated it 4 of 5 stars

Blackhawk down is a very descriptive account of an American gunfight in the middle of Somalia. A routine mission became a long day and night battle with thousands of heavily armed Somali soldiers. This book does an excellent job describing the mission and paints a perfect picture in your head during every scene. I was never found lost or confused on what was happening, everything was well described and kept me interested every step of the way. The story within the main topic of this book is real...more

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Oct 29, 2012 Jacob Sloan rated it 4 of 5 stars

Black Hawk Down is written by Mark Bowden and tells a story of Army Rangers and Delta Force that waged a war on a Somali War Lord. This story shows the might of the U.S. Army and how it operates in combat. The story is all about the crisis in Somalia when War Lords are fighting a civil war and thousands are killed by starvation and disease. The UN comes in to help along with US marines. The UN helps stabilize the situation but when theres still one war lord left held up in a city called Mogadish...more

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Oct 17, 2012 Jacob Applebach rated it 4 of 5 stars

At first when I started reading this book, I thought it was going to be full of action. There was a lot of action but, there was also sadness for all of the men who died. It surprised me when an RPG (Rocket-Propelled Grenade Launcher) hit the black hawk because RPGs can’t lock on too targets, so it is extremely hard to shoot something down. I learned that one man/woman in the army can’t make a difference because you need the whole unit in order to get things done. I liked the way the author used...more

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Oct 16, 2012 John Robertson rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

For one who truly wishes to understand the essence of modern conflict, Black Hawk Down deserves a spot on the wish list. Its thorough use of tone, action, and firsthand accounts from soldiers, officers, and civilians on both sides give a remarkable outlook on battle and conflict.

Many who look for an action-packed read would find this novel growing on them in short time. Other than presenting the reader with battle after battle, the novel provides a plethora of minute details in military techno...more For one who truly wishes to understand the essence of modern conflict, Black Hawk Down deserves a spot on the wish list. Its thorough use of tone, action, and firsthand accounts from soldiers, officers, and civilians on both sides give a remarkable outlook on battle and conflict.

Many who look for an action-packed read would find this novel growing on them in short time. Other than presenting the reader with battle after battle, the novel provides a plethora of minute details in military technology and the thoughts and feelings behind individual soldiers. To hear how America's elite soldiers feel and react to situations in conflict is truly fascinating, even more so when contrasted against the ideals and actions of the Somalis, the opposing force who juxtapose so strongly against the Americans.

The tone shifts accordingly and appropriately to the feelings of the individual soldiers and officers. Whether it be a fast-paced and impossibly concise description of immediate events during a firefight, the thick apprehension during a quiet moment of conflict, the debilitating and extraneous number of terrifying details given when the horror of war sinks in to the soldiers, or the personal, reflective, depressing reflections of the men as they consider their stance towards themselves and their friends during the conflict, you can be sure that the tone will be set to what anyone in a war zone would feel at the moment. The novel presents a good mix of action and adrenaline with horror and despair, essential components of modern war.

Lastly, anyone with the least amount of interest in morals and viewpoints would be overjoyed to find the accounts from several individual soldiers, a few American officers, and many other Somali men of varying stature. I thoroughly enjoyed the differing mindsets of the soldiers, how the Somali's knew any effort by the United States was fruitless and Somalia would remain as is, while the American's were fighting until they were sick of it. The suicidal and hive-mind mentality of Somali fighters is simply scary to encounter in a novel, especially from a first-person viewpoint.

I give Mark Bowden's Black Hawk Down five stars out of five. The perfect balance of action and emotion, along with plenty of firsthand accounts creates a masterpiece of its genre. Anyone who wishes to understand the Mogadishu conflict, Somali culture, or modern warfare should turn to this book without a second thought.(less)

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Aug 18, 2012 Jen rated it 5 of 5 stars

I have read many non-fiction war books, and Mark Bowden's Black Hawk Down triumphs above the rest. Bowden reels the audience in by delving into the psyches of those who were involved in the Battle of Mogadishu, and he gives accounts from both sides. While Bowden does spend a lot of time with the Rangers and Deltas, he breaks from the traditional biases found in "history's-written-by-the-victors" war novels. And that is partially because there were no winners in Mogadishu. Bowden continually remi...more

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Aug 01, 2012 Matt Randall rated it 5 of 5 stars

I have seen the movie and it really moved me. The movie was great, however it could not contain all that was in the book. The book was filled with so much more in a lot of the first person experiences of that battle. A full on battle like that one is filled with so much horror, gore, bravery, and selflessness that could never be written down in one book.
After reading the book its hard to put the fault on one person, one tactic, or one goal. Our intentions were noble, but the tide turned and we...more

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Jul 25, 2012 Eric Beard rated it 4 of 5 stars

On a side note, I had the opportunity to cross paths with the author while working on a project for the US Army War College on the Carlisle Barracks. The kindly clerk at the bookstore (yes, the Army War College has a bookstore and it is filled with sweatshirts, shot glasses, pens, candy, and all of the other detritus that one expects to find in any bookstore at Anywhere State University) noted my interested in this book, and quite proudly shared with me that Mr. Bowden was now stationed at the...more

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Jun 13, 2012 Jeffrey rated it 5 of 5 stars

I absolutely loved this book. It really opens your eyes about modern war and the fights that our U.S. military is continually involved in. What makes this book so fantastic is Mark Bowden writes on a non-fictional subject like it is a fictional story. If you did not know that it is a non-fiction and read it, you would honestly think that it is a made up conflict. The book liked to jump around from people to people and chalk to chalk( chalks are squads/teams of Rangers and Delta). My favorite cha...more

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May 30, 2012 Jacob Wiser rated it 5 of 5 stars

The story behind this book takes a little backround knowledge. they were several war leaders in Somalia and were killing many people. We wanted to capture them to stop the war crimes. They were meeting in a hotel in the city of Mogidoshu. We went in to capture them and a black hawk went down in the city. We got stuck in the city overnight when it was supposed to be a in and out mission.

The movie displays the setting almost excatly how I imagined it. The characters played their roles well and the...more

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Jan 25, 2012 Matt Palmer rated it 4 of 5 stars

Helicopters crashing, RPG’s launching, men fighting to survive, all some of the many things that happen in the action packed book “Black Hawk Down” by Mark Bowden. The book is an excellent way to learn about the war while having a good time reading. All the action in the book makes it very interesting, yet the factual information is also provided by the author. The book is so real, it gets you on the edge of your seat while reading. With all this action packed information, you can obtain a lot o...more Helicopters crashing, RPG’s launching, men fighting to survive, all some of the many things that happen in the action packed book “Black Hawk Down” by Mark Bowden. The book is an excellent way to learn about the war while having a good time reading. All the action in the book makes it very interesting, yet the factual information is also provided by the author. The book is so real, it gets you on the edge of your seat while reading. With all this action packed information, you can obtain a lot of knowledge about the book and have fun, all this putting the pieces of the puzzle together to make a fantastic book.
All hell breaks lose when the United Sates Army drops in to Somalia in 2001. Roughly 120 men are sent on a mission to recover two main lieutenants, yet that mission went from simple to life threatening. “Black Hawk Down” by Mark Bowden puts you right in action page after page. The book gives you the mission that “the boys” will be completing. They have to literally drop into the “heart” of Somalia and attempt to arrest two much wanted fugitives. Yet what they don’t know is that they are going to run in to a lot of trouble.
As the book goes on you are taken into all the missions (all taken place in Africa), that literally are so detailed you may begin to shake. Towards the middle of the book the Rangers are on a main mission in Somalia, being hated by the somalians, they are shot down (in a Black Hawk) an immediately swarmed by 100’s of men. Taking heavy fire, other Rangers and Delta force members are given the task to get in there and save their asses.
With bodies dropping left and right, this is no laughing matter. Later, when a second black hawk goes down they all know there is not much they can do. An RPG (rocket launcher) caused the Black Hawk to go down that day, when fired by a Somali citizen. As the book continues, it covers other covert elite missions that are not as interesting as when the black hawk goes down, yet they all share a connection that makes them necessary for this book to cover them. Each mission is just a ripple effect to the next infuriating both sides so they will keep on butting heads until who knows what! Each mission is like a domino to the next, they all lead to another. With such great cooperative chapters the book is tied down perfectly.

I thought the book was rather interesting. As not being someone who enjoys to read. The only kind of book I could see myself enjoying is action and that contributed to the incredible book Black Hawk Down. Surprisingly I took a lot more from this book than acrtion, it showed me not to take for granted what we have because there are people out there with so much worse. It also showed me that the soldiers who fight for us go threw so much and they deserve a lot better than they have. All these lessons made me love the book. A book like that has to be really good to, because if I love a book, you know it has to be good!
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Jan 10, 2012 Jason Golomb rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction, history, military, war

“Black Hawk Down” is an absolutely wonderfully exhausting book. The sheer magnitude of the action and number of discrete narrative threads make the book an enjoyably significant investment.

Bowden provides an apt description of the experience of “Black Hawk Down”. He writes, “You could be prepared for the sights and sounds and smells of war, but the horror of it, the blood and gore and heartrending screams of pain, the sense of death perched right on your shoulder, breathing in your ear, there w...more “Black Hawk Down” is an absolutely wonderfully exhausting book. The sheer magnitude of the action and number of discrete narrative threads make the book an enjoyably significant investment.

Bowden provides an apt description of the experience of “Black Hawk Down”. He writes, “You could be prepared for the sights and sounds and smells of war, but the horror of it, the blood and gore and heartrending screams of pain, the sense of death perched right on your shoulder, breathing in your ear, there was no preparation for that. Things felt balanced on an edge, threatening at any moment to spin out of control.”

Mark Bowden’s investigation into a single battle in Mogadishu, Somalia, is painstakingly detailed and thoroughly notated. Bowden weaves hours of interviews into a cohesive narrative, that doesn’t feel stretched, or forced into a beginning, middle and end for mass consumption. In a world desensitized to violence by TV, video games, movies, Bowden has written a heart-wrenchingly real depiction of a real battle fought by real humans with very real feelings (physical and emotional).

American troops had been placed in the African nation to help support the rebuilding of the small, poor and desolate place. Bowden gives a sense of this distant battlefield: “Mogadishu spread beneath them it its awful reality, a catastrophe, the world capital of things-gone-completely-to-hell. It was as if the city had been ravaged by some fatal urban disease.” Army Rangers and members of the elite Delta Force were on a base on the outskirts of Mogadishu while periodically making small and seemingly effective raids in the capital city.

In early October, 1993, a Delta team, supported by Rangers, was dropped into the city with the hopes of capturing high ranking insurgent officials. The mission started to fall apart very quickly. Not one, but two helicopters were shot down. U.S. convoys drove around the city lost, and before they knew it, what started off as a routine mid-day mission, became an overnight, almost two day long nightmare.

Bowden does an amazing job of synthesizing official reports and hours of his own interviews into a solid narrative. While the book isn’t long, it’s certainly overwhelming. But it’s not supposed to be an ‘easy’ read. It’s well-written, but it’s also very real. One soldier’s bravado in one scene becomes a very child-like fear in the next. As a soldier is asked to return to the battle after supporting a small convoy of wounded returning to the U.S. base, Bowden writes of an exchange with a more senior officer: “The difference between being a coward and hero is now whether you’re scared, it’s what you do while you’re scared.”

The only downside of this book is that it doesn’t include a summary of the characters and their relative relationships. There are dozens of soldiers with varying degrees of impact on the story of the battle. I simply could not keep up with who was who, and who was in which unit, and where they were at the different phases of the battle. Consider this a heads up for future readers.

To be clear, reading this book is an amazing experience. I don’t consider myself a regular reader of military fiction or non-fiction, but I consider this a tremendous piece of work.
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Nov 08, 2011 Amblingbooks.com marked it as to-read · review of another edition

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Ninety-nine elite American soldiers are trapped in the middle of a hostile city. As night falls, they are surrounded by thousands of enemy gunmen. Their wounded are bleeding to death. Their ammunition and supplies are dwindling. This is the story of how they got there—and how they fought their way out.

This is the story of war.

Black Hawk Down drops you into a crowded marketplace in the heart of Mogadishu, Somalia with the U.S. Special Forces and puts you in the middle of the most intense fireligh...more

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Nov 08, 2011 Chase Augenstein rated it 5 of 5 stars

Black Hawk Down by Mark Bowden

The book Black hawk down is a nonfiction book told from the memories and thoughts of the troops and officers involved in the battle in Mogadishu. The book is told in a sequential order of the troop’s memories and thoughts. The book has five sections which are essentially the plan, O it failed lets go to plan b, plan b failed now what, help arrives, clean up. There are specific soldiers that the story follows as the event was extremely confidential he had to compile...more

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About Mark Bowden

Mark Robert Bowden (born July 17, 1951) is an American writer who is currently a contributing editor at Vanity Fair. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, and a 1973 graduate of Loyola College in Maryland, Bowden was a staff writer for The Philadelphia Inquirer from 1979-2003, and has won numerous awards. He has written for Men's Journal, The Atlantic Monthly, Sports Illustrated, and Rolling Stone over the...more

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