Rating: Summary: Out Gunned Review: After reading many of the reviews the overwhelming message is Bowden writes it straight up. Has to be true since I noticed one thing no one else reviewed. The fact that Bowden speaks of our small deployment force for this task. I am angered with our government, not for getting involved, but from this book we sent in way to small of a force. With that this book puts on display the bravery of the American Volunteer soldier. Being outgunned by more than 50 to 1 our men made it out of there in exceptionaly good shape given the conditions. This book has told me, we can't go into combat half ..... When we commit we need to further protect ourselves with much more military support, if we had done that in Somolia, I'm certain this book would never of been written, we would have kicked ... My purpose for the review, it's a real book, get it, Bowden has done a great work and presses a valuable message to our leaders, "If you are going to send troops, do it with greater force than the enemy and stop putting our troops in harms way". I want to mention, if you enjoyed this book, check SB 1 or God, a fascinating battle in the middle east and Armageddon. By Karl Mark Maddox
Rating: Summary: Excellent details Review: Black Hawk Down tells the story of what actually happened in somalia with a level of detail not found in most military history books. This book gets you on the ground hearing and seeing what the guys who were there saw. A great book, honoring those who fought and died, and making a point as to not forget what happened in somalia. I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys military history, this book is a rare treat and should be read by all.
Rating: Summary: Respect They Deserve Review: I had a hard time putting this book down. I remember vividly when this terrible battle hit the news and the papers. Once again our soldiers are sent into the absolute hell of combat and are left to fight for their lives in a situation that all the possible scenarios were not thought out. This book not only gives the reader the facts and stories from the soldiers themselves but also many of their thoughts before, during and after the battle. The book depicts well how good American Rangers are at their job and how unbelievably well trained and professional the Delta guys are. Although some people may be offended by the unfortunate killing of civilians - the book clearly points out how and why civilians were killed. This book "Black Hawk Down" will give the reader an excellant fact based look into the horrors of combat and the outstanding abilities of our elite forces in action. Excellant!
Rating: Summary: Great Story Review: This book is simply a great story. The author does an incredible job of conveying the chaos and fear that these soldiers went through. The first 250 pages of the book have the pace, feel and horror of the opening scene of Saving Private Ryan.Several reviewers have commented that the author seems to be trying to convey a political message. In reality, he does anything but. The book is not about the political situation that resulted in this battle. Instead, the book, just as the soldiers on whom it focuses, takes the political situation as a given and instead focuses primarily, and deals almost exclusively on an minute-by-minute description of the battle itself. What I took away most from the book is the sense of duty and loyalty to their fellow soldiers that drives these young men to keep going, even beyond the point where they are scared to death. Our country is lucky to have young men (and women) like that. My only real quibble with the book is that additional maps and diagrams would have been helpful. The action was so fast-paced and detailed that it was hard to keep track of who was where and what was going on. Of course, as other reviewers have mentioned, that pace and confusion does result in the reader experiencing some small shadow of what the soldiers themselves felt.
Rating: Summary: The Book is Always Better Than the Movie Review: This book is fantastic for a number of reasons. One being that the battle is described in vivid detail. Another being that the author doesn't mess around, for example, when implicating the Italians for possibly tipping off the Somalis in the marketplace that the Americans were coming. That is the kind of stuff that is left out of movies for fear of offending people (and fear of hurting the bottom line - see "Pearl Harbor" and the Japanese edited version). My only complaint is that the book simply describes the battle and the specific details of what went down. He doesn't step back and attempt to designate who was responsible for the debacle. I realize that was not his purpose but to me it is still an important part of what happened in Somalia...
Rating: Summary: Couldn't put it down. Review: Highly researched accurate portrayal of our military's best at work. A must read, though prepare to be affected. This book cannot be read without invoking some emotion in you.
Rating: Summary: Could not put it down Review: This is one of the most accurate and gut-wrenching accounts of modern warfare available to those who do not have a Top Secret clearance. The access that the author was provided to the combatants and civilians involved appears to be largely unprecedented. And he has taken great pains to check and double-check the accounts he was given to present a truly objective account of the action. This is journalism of the highest order. Not for the faint of heart, however.
Rating: Summary: You can't put "Black Hawk Down." Review: I served 12 years in the Air Force as a Combat Controller (AF Special Forces) and was last assigned to the 23rd Special Tactics Squadrons at Hurlburt Field in Florida. Are motto, "First There, Last Out", pretty much sums up what we did. I have never read a book that more accurately captures the sentiment that a soldier never leaves a man (generic for person) behind...NEVER. It cost the Army 15 additional men, good men, attempting to save the soldiers in the bird that fell that day, but it was worth it. After all, try getting soldiers to fight for their country if they don't believe that their country will risk this much to save them if indeed they fall in combat. Although it has been said many times that we fight for God and country, those of us who have been in combat know that it is God and country that motivate us into battle but it is the man next to us that keeps us there, and keeps us going back in...until no one is left behind. It is for them that these brave soldiers fought and died, not for ideology or a blind sense of duty. What had been portrayed as a series of screw-ups in the media was in actuality nothing of the sort. This book eloquently demonstrates that these soldiers accomplished every bit of their intended mission that day. The only screw-up occurred long before that day, when President Clinton, not unlike President Reagan before him, put our soldiers in harm's way without adequate support and with an untenable mission. This story shows that we can no longer afford to put our people in the middle of a target-rich environment and then shackle them to a rule of engagement that says only shoot when shot at. If a battle is waging and there are people on the rooftops, for instance, you can bet they are not there for shelter...those people are by definition combatants. One need not wait for them to take careful aim and pip off a surface-to-air rocket as they did here. An A-130 gunship would have saved 19 lives that day. It was in the futile attempt to spare innocent lives that these soldiers were sacrificed. Some day the politicians will learn that the military is designed to kill people and break things, not to surgically extract dictators or to carefully glean the subtle nuances between combatant and "casually-dressed woman pulling an AR-15 from a basket." By the time you recognize her as a combatant, you've lost three men. Based on a recommendation, I recently read a book called Operation Pseudo Miranda and was mortified to see another example of politicians placing soldiers (in the war on drugs) in harms way without sufficient support or proper training. Not unlike Black Hawk Down, most of them got dead for their troubles. And not unlike Black Hawk Down, you feel as though you are there and are glad you are not. Read both.
Rating: Summary: Politically biased report of an important historical event Review: I bought this book looking forward to learning about the Somalian incident and began reading it with great anticipation. I am so disappointed in the writer, both his "jump-around" reporting and his redundant and poor writing that I could not force myself past page 50. By that page he has told the reader no less than four times that the dust is ochre colored and the trees in the courtyards are small. He has also judged the Somalian adults as being lazy because they don't have jobs, this from a reporter whose own account describes a country who's infrastructure had been destroyed. Who, exactly was looking to hire anyone? He dismisses those who question military actions as "liberal do-gooders" and describes the troops as men who couldn't even "write a high school report about Somalia," an ignorance that is truly frightening and explains why this country finds it so easy to "bomb the brown people". At one point he states that the more than 100 military personnel involed includes only 2 people of color, which he says is revealing, but does not explain what it reveals or explain in any way what he meant by the statement. I surmise Mr. Bowden (...), and his treatment of the event is fragmented and superficial. As a high-school report, this book would get high marks for quantity of factual (?) information and flunk on writing skill. The book angers me because I feel duped by all the hype about it.
Rating: Summary: I hope the movie can live up to the book Review: If the movie is as half as good as the book, then I think "Black Hawk Down" will win the Academy Award for best picture. Since 9/11 America has found new heros to believe in, Bowden's book gives us that!
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