Rating: 
Summary: A Nightmarish Tale of Future Warfare
Review: There is an inherent tension between military professionals and the journalists who attempt to document their campaigns, and it is significant in this light that Black Hawk Down has gained acceptance by the US Army in its Command and General Staff College as a graduate level resource. The reader will understand why within the first twenty pages of this book. Mr. Bowden's description of the Mogadishu battle, his treatment of the paticipants, and his general conclusions are unusually thorough and balanced. For a journalist his discernment regarding military issues is uncommon and refreshing. More important, he is successful in unpeeling many of the new complexities of modern urban warfare that are evolving with the evolution of surveillance sensors, weapons, and elite forces and tactics. This is a challenging frontier of military science and the Mogadishu battle is documented in sufficient detail to reveal a number of tactical, operational, and cultural issues confronting commanders and troops in the urban battlespace. The Somali side of the conflict is also explored, with detailed accounts of Somali participants and their motivations. Mr. Bowden's journalistic objectivity cannot, however, fully conceal his contempt for Clinton/Albright geopolitical incompetence -- a perspective which remains a powerful undercurrent in the American military.
Rating:
Summary: Unopiniated, Journalistic Retelling of a major US Battle
Review: The title proclaims that this is a "Story of Modern War", which is completely true, as it is not a story of modern politics, weapons, foreign policy, African society or US Army. It is the story of how all of these items come to play over a 48 hour battle which is the longest fire fight the US has been involved with since the Vietnam War. The author, Mr. Mark Bowden has assembled the action through countless interviews with the many people that were part of the battle, even including those that fought against the US and UN task force. The narrative flows in a manner which reflects its origins through the eyes of those that were there. There are no digressions towards the history of Somalia, modern infantry tactics or attempts to pass judgment on the appropriateness of the mission. Instead, the reader is quickly tossed into the firefight, seeing it through the eyes of the soldiers almost as if you could smell the gunfire and taste the Somali Chak.The story is very well told, and while there are moments that additional background information would be beneficial, its absence does not seriously impede the overall quality of the text. The story is very fast-paced and it is clear that Mr. Bowden has done his homework. The final chapter, in which the author relates how he came to tell this story is both interesting and compelling. I don't know if the author would consider this a compliment (I hope it is taken as such), but many of the fight scenes read as if they were out of a Tom Clancy novel. They are very well written, and the emotions of those involved is well committed to paper. There aren't many military histories that make the reader feel the pain of a bullet-wound, the fear of a fire-fight or the confusion of battle, but here Mr. Bowden has succeeded marvelously. The book creates even greater respect for the troops involved, Delta Force, Army Rangers and SEALS are already very well respected for good reasons. I particularly enjoyed the scenes where the Army Rangers realize that the high-tech armor-piercing bullets that they are using are in fact too good- the bullets are passing through the unarmored Somali opposition and not injuring them enough to stop them. This is a particularly poignant metaphor for the entire battle. So what, other than a great book, does this leave us with? It is unique to find a modern author that doesn't fill their book with pre-fabricated thoughts and opinions, but Mr. Bowden has done just that, allowing the reader to interpret this battle, the death of US soldiers that it caused and the socio-political system out of which it arose. (In this he is similar to both Anthony Birley, author of "Hadrian: the Restless Emperor" and Lisa Jardine, who has written two excellent histories of the Scientific Revolution and the Renaissance.) These are all important things to contemplate, which provides the reader with a book of strong merit not just for the story it tells, but also for the bigger portrait that it paints.
Rating: 
Summary: Very good.
Review: I cant say enough good stuff about this book. At first I wasnt sure if i wanted to buy it, but after i talked to a few people and it was brought up, (Somalia), they said they also had some doubts at first but went ahead and actually liked it. Being a medic in the Army, I felt I should also give it a shot and I also liked it so, yeah, its a good book and you should buy it.
Rating:
Summary: Put your money down
Review: This book is electrifying! Considering it was a book on a topic that I had very little interest in, I could not put it down! The moment by moment description is captivating.
Rating:
Summary: Intense
Review: If you are the type of person that finds true war books kind of dry and to technical this book will change your mind. It is the true story of the United States involvment in Somalia. The action is intense and the story is heroic, sad, and amazing at the same time. I look foreward to the upcoming movie directed by Ridley Scott.
Rating: 
Summary: Its role in academia
Review: January 10, 1993. It was a busy Sunday afternoon in the ancient port city of Mogadishu, capital city of Somalia. Like one of the many jewels plucked from the colonial crown of the once mighty empire of the European powers, it now lays fractured by the modern economical and political stresses that are the plagues of every third-world nation. The actions of the United Nations range far and wide when involving humanitarian matters concerning the impoverished citizens of countries such as Somalia. After the fall of the government, rival clans endeavored to seize control of power of the failing nation. The Habr Gidr Clan proves to be one of the more unwilling supporters of the policies of the United Nations, and the United States accuse local thugs of commandeering supplies of food meant for the relief of starving citizens. In order for the relief efforts to be effective, the United States determined that the leader of the Habr Gidr Clan, Aidid, and his command structure had to be neutralized in order for the country to be stabilized. This was the situation Mark Bowden follows in his book, Black Hawk Down, and the purpose of the book is to establish for the reader just what happened in the dusty streets of Mogadishu on the 10th of January, 1993. The book accomplishes its purpose in that he provides an accurate reflection of the soldiers who were there and their points of view, but he lacks overall context and the use of more maps and illustrations. The author, Mark Bowden, is a journalist from the 60's School of Revolutionary reporting. Although he has written several pieces in the field of journalism, he has very little experience writing formal history. Of course, that does not mean he is not capable of writing a definitive historical account, or that he has no right to place his work out of the realm of pop history. His credentials show that he is a skilled and confident journalist. The question is: could some serious historian, desiring to research the events of American involvement in Somalia, gain a contributing effort by referencing Bowden's book? Your answer would be "yes". Historians will gain much insight into the thoughts and actions of the soldiers who participated in the intense firefight in the heart of a war torn city. Which leads the critic into the next question to ask: is this a good book to read? Yes, it depends what you are looking for though. It is a definitive work in trying to understand the actions and reasons of why American servicemen had to spend overnight in the heart of a hostile city surrounded by thousands of unruly neighbors who happen to be armed with AK-47's and Russian RPG's. It provides a wonderful account of modern urban combat in a third world environment. Bowden systematically describe the account of the actions of the Delta Force and the Army Rangers who took part in the mission, but would not come out for almost an entire day. It provides a good account of the command structure that is involved with such an operation. It is a study of urban combat; on the other hand, if one was more interested in discovering the reasons for each command decision, 'why was this done?', 'why was that not done?', or why American forces pulled out of the Horn of Africa, then this will not be the book. Unfortunately, Bowden lacks on getting into logistical mechanics that are involved with running an operation of the caliber seen in Mogadishu. He touches briefly on the Clinton administration and how their attitudes help to affect the entire campaign, but Bowden is a long way from analysis of the administration's real contribution to the whole operation. This has the effect that all the reader really ends up with is just an account of an event, but it is taken out of contexts. Bowden also fails to present in his book a copious supply of tactical maps. In trying to determine just what exactly was going on, the use of maps would have been an important determination on whether if the lay reader could understand it, or if it required an expert on military tactics to understand what was going on in the book. Maps and illustrations are a very important resource for any history book, and if the book in question lacks those resources, then it takes away from its usefulness. Overall, Mark Bowden's Black Hawk Down is a well-documented reconstruction through the use of oral sources of the Battle of Mogadishu in early 1993. The book accomplishes its purpose in that he provides an accurate reflection of the soldiers who were there and their points of view, but he lacked overall context and the use of more maps and illustrations to really make this book a knock-out punch.
Rating:
Summary: Peerless account of modern warfare
Review: Nitpick all you want about whether Somalis got their due, or whether the 10th Mountain Division were misrepresented... you will not find a better account of modern warfare and the horror of combat than "Black Hawk Down." As a military narrative it ranks with "Day of Infamy" (Lord) and "The Killer Angels" (Shaara) as instant classics of the genre. NSDQ and "Hoo-ah!"
Rating:
Summary: Review for Black Hawk Down
Review: "Black Hawk Down", by Mark Bowden, is the fast paced story of the Battle of the Black Sea in Somalia. Using second-by-second narratives as well as multiple perspectives, this book is the closest look at battle that one could have without actually being there. In many ways Black Hawk Down symbolizes in its chaotic passages the bizarre and sometimes contradictory roles that the United States has taken in international politics since the end of the Cold War. But Bowden's book takes no time to philosophize. The reader is within the first several pages repelled down into the loud dusty streets of Mogadishu, Somalia. The mission a relatively simple one: seize several clan Warlords from a building and drive them to the base in Humvees. It turned out to be far from that simple, and Bowden takes the reader down the dusty bullet ridden alleyways to prove it. Bowden used a wide variety of sources, both Somali and American, to give the reader the full sense of the conflict. He is fair and objective in his account. It is a story of modern war because it highlights the difficulties of interventions and hints at the naivety of the United States in thinking that a few high profile actions supported by Black Hawk helicopters can solve other nation's age-old problems. This is a fantastic book and I would recommend it to anyone.
Rating:
Summary: A Compelling & Disturbing Read
Review: Mark Bowden's tale of the United State's involvement in Somalia, in particular the long firefight in Mogadishu that caused the US so much embarrassment, is a truly gripping account of contemporary warfare. Bowden gets inside the soldiers' heads, explains the mindset of the commanding officers, and shows in excruciating detail just how things fell apart. At times it reads like hilarious black comedy, at other times it is painfully tragic. "Black Hawk Down" demonstrates just how difficult it was for the US military to carry out its ambiguous and ultimately impossible mission. My only complaint about the book is that Bowden's technique, giving a minute-by-minute description of the battle, gets a bit overwhelming after a while. You may read a hundred pages in which we follow the actions of a dozen or more different soldiers, and all of an hour has passed in the battle. Many of the individual stories are riveting and kept me turning the pages furiously, but too many were interchangeable and by the time I was two thirds of the way through, I felt as though I'd already read a lot of what was going on. Ultimately this is a minor complain, and readers who find too much detail tedious can skim a little and still come away from this book feeling the profound sadness of this colossal military misstep.
Rating:
Summary: Skillfully Written Account of Combat
Review: I read this book as part of an assignment for a class dealing with war crimes. From the standpoint of studying war crimes, I felt that Black Hawk Down was not necessarily an appropriate assignment for the subject matter of the class. Based on the rest of the books I had read for this class, I had expected to read much more about what circumstances in Somalia led to the events Bowden discusses. Nevertheless, I still found the book fascinating and difficult to put down. Although based on events that actually happened, the book reads like a novel, giving every detail of the events of October 3, 1993, when the U.S. Ranger Task Force descended on Mogadishu, Somalia, with the mission of capturing a notorious warlord. As it turned out, the battle lasted all night, and was far more costly than they had anticipated. Bowden¡¯s book skillfully takes the reader through all the events of the entire operation. In reading the book, I found it difficult to imagine that not only was Bowden not there for the events, but that he does not even have any combat experience or expertise. Throughout the book, he analyzes what moves were made, and what mistakes were made. Although I admittedly have no military experience or knowledge myself, I found his account of the events totally convincing. In addition to the detailed account of the American troops¡¯ actions, I also found his discussion, from time to time, of the actions of Somalians to be quite insightful. While the focus of the book is on the battle, his discussion of the Somalians gives the reader some minimal exposure as to just how largely life in Mogadishu at the time differed from ours in America.
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