Rating: 
Summary: Non Stop Action from Beginning to End
Review: This book moves at a sprinters pace and never tires. The reader gets the sense that he/she is part of the action. There is the feeling of being like a mouse on a wheel as one event leads to another. I put the book down a few times out of exhaustion. I recommend this book although, be warned, it is a troubling story.
Rating: 
Summary: Amazing book
Review: I've been reading for some years now and this is the first book that I have truly fell in love with. The way Mark Bowden tells this story is amazing. you feel like you know each character like you've met him before. He describes the horrors and dreaded things that happened to America on the day they just went in to capture Aidid the warlord, in such detail that it made me sick to my stomach to think about it. The way he told more then one story during the book helps you to understand more about the Somalias and the Americans. He does a marvelous job of explaining about the D-Boys and the Rangers and it was just an all around good book. The movie was good, but to truly get the full picture and understand it better you HAVE to read the book. You will have no regrets.
Rating:
Summary: good military history, bad general history
Review: Bowden does a great job of giving you the details of the rangers and the Delta forces mission to capture or kill Aidid, a Somali warlord. You will learn the heroism and bravery of the men who fought in the streets of Somalia and gave their lives in a foreign land. Cool historical tidbits come up - like that there was only one black man in the outfit while they were in a black country - Somalia. Bowden will also describe the horors and just plain strangeness of war.
To be a 5 star book, this book would have the delve into the politics of the war and the UN. This book is told from the soldier's perspective - "To not know why, but to do or die." There is not enough background material in this book to fully understand why the US and UN were in Somalia and understand how things changed from a stricly humanitarium mission protecting convoys to a fully military action involving trying to nab the most powerful man in Somalia. Sure there is some cursory explanation, but not more than you would have gotten from reading the newspaper, and definitely not the level of detail that Bowden provided for the firefights! Surely he could have spared a couple of pages?
Why is this important? Because ultimately while reading this book you start to wonder whether the US and UN screwed up in Somalia or not? Did they go to far? Was the switch from protecting convoys to taking down Aidid justified and practical? You will ask these questions after reading this book, but not find anwers here.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Book To Read
Review: I bought this book after seeing the movie, which wasn't too bad. The beginning of the book seemed a little slow paced at first, but quickly picked up as I read more into it. The entire story comes off into one big report really and jumps from one character to the next, but other than that it's great to read in your spare time.
Rating:
Summary: Realistic depiction of modern war
Review: I am not a military expert or historian, but this book, to me, appeared about as real as it gets. Bowden does a good job of developing each of the many important charachters to a certain extent, enough to pull out your emotions for them. The pull this book had on me was stunning; I simply couldn't put it down. I hope Mark continues to write as real as he did in this book. I would recommend this to anyone with interest in the military or simply wants to read a good book. I can't wait to see the movie.
Rating:
Summary: America: The world's police force defined.
Review: Anyone that has gotten upset at the news or has asked the question, "Why do we (the USA) need to be involved with that?" should read this book. Bowden explains the double edge edge sword of super power and peace keeper very graphically and very well. There is no other country that can currently keep the bullies of the world on a leash but us. Is the book patriotic? Without doubt. Is the book emotional? Most of the time. Is it fair? It tries. If you have any patriotic fire at all this book will excite you and upset you. It will leave you with more understanding why our youth has to spill it's blood in a foreign land and how we as a nation have nothing but hard choices to make in the future as current events have shown. This book should be a mandatory read for those of draft age and anyone that has ever wondered why need to be in a world's far corner tapping on a bully's shoulder.
Rating:
Summary: Astonishing Heroism
Review: I'm an avid reader of military fiction and non-fiction, but I have never read such a compelling story. If this were fiction, the pure selflessness of these soldiers and operators would have been too amazing to believe. This is a must read, especially if you have any interest in the military, stories of heroism, or the pride and commitment that leads some people to give up their lives to save others. Astonishing.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Review: Aidid was a criminal. Pure and simple. In 1992 George W. Bush Sr. sent Marines
to Somalia to help hand out food and keep
the peace during the famine that occured
because mostly of civil war and a tribalized
warlord infrustructure that plagued the nation
then and plagues it now(its hard to call it
a nation now). Aidid the most powerful warlord seeking
political power and complete conrol over Somalia
knew the only way to gain it was to get the UN out
and the only way to do that is to scare them out,
and the only way to do that is force. So he goes
on his murder campaign which leads around 30 Pakistani
Peacekeepers dead and 4 US Marines dead. Aidid not only had totalitarian ambitions and
was implementing them during this time by using
food as bargaining chip with the Somali's who
owed their loyalty to them but he targeted
Peacekeeping and Humanitarian forces as well.
He murdered the Pakistanis and the Marines for these
political ambitions and deserved to get it
in the head as far as I'm concerned. The entire mess was Aidid and his group of thugs
fault. Not to mention certain terrorist links
to that know infamous bunch of Wahhabist murderers
Al Qaeda. This book reminds me of how we should respect
our soldiers and understand the types of forces
they go up against even when they are not performing
combat roles such as humatarian assistance as they
were doing in 1993 in Somalia before Aidid started his
politically motivated carrot/stick campaign against
the Somalis, and murdering UN and US humaitarian Forces. God Bless America!
Rating:
Summary: First Rate Military History
Review: Cheers to author Mark Bowden. Thanks to his incredibly dedicated research and excellent storytelling ability, he was able to resurrect the quickly fading memory of America's military "debacle" in Somalia and give the troops who fought (and died) there their proper due. For the most part, Bowden doesn't get bogged down with the details of WHY the U.N. and American troops were in Somlaia in the first place (though he does give enough of an overview to set the proper context), nor does he go in depth into how Somalia descended into lawlessness. Bowden's story is of the soldiers, and it is a story he tells as well as any combat chronicler has ever done. Bowden focusses on the soldiers of Delta Force and of the U.S. Army Rangers who on October 3, 1993, were sent on a daylight mission ointo the section of Mogadishu controlled by Warlord Mohamed Aidid two apprehend two of Aided's top lieutenants. Despite popular perceptions (fueled by the media) that the mission was a disaster, it was actually a tactical success. The force captured its targets and at the same time inflicted tremendous casualties (many times their own) on Aided's forces. Unfortunately, the political leadership in the U.S. and the American media focussed intead on the two downed Blackhawk helicopters and the deaths of 18 soldiers. What was overlooked was the fact that the American casualties were among America's most elite fighters who had all volunteered to join the units they were in with the expectation that they would someday get tested in real combat. Bowden drives this point home relentlessly. The battle scens in the book are incredibly detailed and told from every point of view (even that of the Somalis, some of whom Bowden interviewed). Bowden is also scrupulously fair, letting the participants speak for themselves and not censoring them when they criticize each other. The book's most valuable portion, however, is the epiloge, where Bowden reports the soldiers' biggest disappointment was that right after the battle, President Clinton, pushed by Congress, decided to get out of Somalia and leave Aidid in place. In other words, they had fought the battle in vain. Overall, "Black Hawk Down" is one of the best military history books written in the past decade or so.
Rating:
Summary: Black Hawk Down
Review: Black Hawk Down is a action pack entertainment book. From the first page to the last,Black Hawk Down is filled with heart pounding action. The book takes a hold of you making not want to put it down ever! When reading this gripping novel deciding if you should go to the bathroom or continue reading to see if Eversmann will see the Somali with the machine gun in the corner before its too late, becomes a difficult decision. Black Hawk Down is the number 1 novel of all time, and a must read.
| 
