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Summary: An Amazing Tale
Review: This book is truly amazing. It will put you right in the middle of the action and gets you very excited. You are happy when something goes right, and sad when it goes bad. I would highly recommend this book.
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Summary: AMAZING. I cant put it down.
Review: I have never liked to read. My dad got me Black Hawk Down as a Christmas gift and I began to read it. I havent been able to put it down. This is the first book I have ever read on my own. Most of the books I read are class assignments. I cant put this one down. Amazing Book! I cant wait to see the movie.
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Summary: A riveting story indeed!
Review: I had heard alot about this book and was starting to see the movie promos on TV when I decided to read it. Man, I could not put it down it was that good. What can I say that 340 other reviewers haven't said already? All I can say is read it before the movie comes out because Bowden's writing produces imagery that would probably be spoiled if you see the movie first. This book is destined, if not already is, to become a classic story of modern war.
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Summary: Great book..now get the documentary video
Review: Yes Black Hawk Down is a great book. For serious readers who want to hear the soldiers in their own words there is a video available. I hope Amazon will allow me to let readers know that here is a great resource to go along with the book.
As always the award winning documentary series "Frontline" is ahead of Hollywood (with all apologies to Mr. Ridley Scott).
I urge all readers interested in this account of our involvement in Somalia to go to the PBS web site and search for the "Frontline" video entitled "Ambush In Mogadishu". This is a riveting account of the Somalia incident. I would advise buying and watching the "Frontline" video before paying to see the movie. Every American should watch this video and hear the soldiers in their own words. This video is of the same quality as the award winning series "Vietnam: A Television History".* Check your local library, they may already have a copy of the PBS video available.
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Summary: This is accurate!
Review: This book is right on the money. I found only a couple of [very minor] inaccuracies. I was in Mogadishu during this period. I was not a Ranger however, one of the guys mentioned in the book later transfered to my unit. Not only was Bowden able to recount a very accurate account of what happened over there, he put it in such a way that places the reader in the gunsights of the Somali thugs that were causing us so much frustration.
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Summary: A dissenting opinion
Review: I read this book because usually books are better than movies, and I had intentions of seeing the movie. I wonder if this is a case where the movie might be better? The book seems well researched, but I found it very confusing. My assumption is that confusion reading reflected confusion on the ground in Somalia. In that sense, the book probably reflects well what happened. But, I simply could not follow the interspersed stories as they were told to the author by the soldiers involved. I wanted to understand from the maps where the individuals were, but I simply could not orient myself adequately. My guess is that the movie will also reflect this confusion and that it might be difficult to follow the story line other than the sheer confusing bedlam of the real event.
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Summary: Checkout
Review: An exciting and accountable description of US operation in Somalia. Minute account of events by the author makes this book a readable and breath taking novel.
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Summary: A COURAGEOUS SPIRIT IS THE BEST WEAPON OF ALL
Review: I have never read such a heart-stopping, bullet on bone crunching account of warfare. I am not American but this true-life account makes me proud to think that there are young people like those depicted here, in the Rangers and Delta Forces, who risk their lives everyday to keep democracy alive for the rest of us. Congratulations Mark Bowden for creating a very fitting monument to the courageous spirit of a few. I will continue to recommend this book to everyone I meet...but let them buy their own copies!
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Summary: What reallly happens when implementing high-minded policy
Review: Bowden absolutely nails the chaos and fear and confusion of battle. This book is riveting in its detail of the "fog of war". Not a book about foreign policy, but about what the implementation of the policy entails. America is the greatest nation that ever existed, with distinct and huge technological and military advantage; however it is not invincible. What essentially amounted to a well armed gang, was able to penetrate that military might. We grossely underestimated the Somali people's will and capability and it cost lives. In my view the American military was triumphant against incredible odds, but ultimately the political establishment did not have the stomach for any further losses. This certainly was a lesson learned in light of today's environment. We are far more reluctant to commit our troops to battle or peacekeeping, relying instead on indescriminant bombing, and dissident forces to fight the battles (not necessarily a criticism). Bowden does not concentrate on the rationale, nor does he pass judgement on its viability, he concentrates on the men who fought that day. This in itself is laudable, since most journalists would have given in to their own personal biases. Though told primarily from an American point of view (as it should be), it was amazing that he was able to get interviews with Somali fighters, and other foreign nationals present at the time. A very horrifying yet refreshing look at the results of what is happening in the world outside of our immediate view. One hundred and fifty soldiers went to war against a city with a population of a million people and the sleeping giant still slept. Until this book was written, this battle was not even a footnote in American history. America is impacting other countries in ways that people had not ever considered. Bowden makes that strikingly clear. What is also becoming clear as time passes, is that skirmishes such as this one impact foreign policy far more than people think.
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Summary: Truth is more entertaining than fiction
Review: I read this book after hearing about the upcoming movie. All reviews I've seen have uniformly raved about this review and I will too. The book is a minute by minute account of raid into inner city Mogadishu, Somalia in 1993. Media reports at the time of the events in the book had left me with the impression that this episode was a disgraceful failure, what with American soldiers being dragged dead though the streets. I had at first been uninterested in this topic because of the aura of failure around the Somalia debacle. This book proves that that was not true. The men involved behaved heroically under unbelievably harrowing circumstances. The author highlights dozens of individual acts of heroism that in total make me admire and respect the men that fought and died there that day. The motives of the officers and politicians who ordered the raid at the Mogadishu apartment building are much more suspect. While Bowden's sympathies are completely with the men on the ground, he has at best neutral opinions of their leaders. Bowden even condones the shooting of hostile women and children as necessary and writes his account of these acts in such a way that the reader agrees. I read this book straight through over two days and a sleepless night; it was that good.
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