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Summary: Gives you the action, and much more!
Review: This book was great and was actually the book that lead me to be one of Bowden's greatest fans. Black Hawk Down gives you what you want. It gives you the action of the whole scenario, the feelings, emotions, and the view from the outside. For a person like me, who likes reading books of the supposed "good" guys of war vs. the "bad", I enjoyed this book greatly. I loved the vivid detail. People have been annoyed with Bowden leaving out any sort of glossary about weapons and such. When it really isn't needed because Bowden took the time to tell about the amount of damage and the explosion the certain aresenal created.
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Summary: Truth always better than fiction
Review: Wow! Read this book in two sittings, flying to LAX and coming back home. I just purchased a few other books that I want to read first, but you better believe BHD will be in the rotation again and again.Surprisingly the movie captures a lot of the chaos and blunders, but still, as is usually the case, the book goes to the deepest corners. An amazing read. At first I was a little turned off by the "term paper" style writing. I read Bowden's other book "Killing Pablo" before this (which is also a great read, btw, although not as good), so maybe reading them back to back was a little too much non fiction overload. But by midway through, you feel like you're sitting in that Ops room watching the battle unfold yourself. At times, I laughed out loud at some of the ironies. Other times I wanted to cry. Sometimes I just wanted to reach out and choke the burreaucracy. You get the whole story here. The ground level soldiers taking heavy fire, helicopter pilots trying to keep their orbit, families of the dead and wounded, the enemy's viewpoint, etc. etc. Simply put, BUY IT. It will get much use again and again.
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Summary: A Fantastic Book (with a few weaknesses)
Review: The previous reviews have covered why the book is so great, so I will point out a few weaknesses. First, the author (Mark Bowden) did a good job in his interviews with the porticipants (on both sides), but explicitly admitted that he knows nothing about combat tactics. This weakness was made very clear in his writing. He describes what happended extremely well, but there is no critique of decisions made, no analysis of actions taken or not taken. (There are a few critiques from a few participants, but these are not explored at all.) His only commentary was in his epilogue, where he blindly "sides" with the commanding general. For example, Bowden criticizes a former Ranger who lost a son in the battle, stating that American armor (Bradley's) would have arrived too late to save the soldier. But the author totally ignores the option that such vehicles could have gone in with the Humvee's and large trucks during the initial part of the raid. Second, the author mentions the many weapons used, but the average reader probably does NOT know what the acronyms means.
Some might know that an RPG is a "rocket-propelled grenade", but a glossary of the firearms with their acronyms would have been very useful. If a reader does not know what an M-60, M-14, 9mmm Beretta, AK-47, etc. are, then that reader is out of luck. I consider Hal Moore's book, "We Were Soldiers Once... and Young" (with Joe Galloway) a slightly better description of what combat is really like to the soldier actually in combat, but Bowden is technically a much better writer than Moore or Galloway. All in all, this is a MUST book to read.
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Summary: Even more engaging than the film
Review: I first saw this book in the film version which came out a year ago. It both broke my heart and angered me that so many of our men had to die because our President didn't send them the equipment to successfully complete their mission. He was too busy fooling around in his personal life to care I guess... but that was another story sort of. Anyway, I didn't think I would ever have time to sit down and read the book, so I purchased the abridged book on tape. Its far more detailed and even easier to follow than the film! Joe Morton does a fantastic job of reading this sad tale. All the essential elements of this modern history are included. You don't want to turn off the CD!! If you don't have time for the book, or if war stories aren't your thing but you're still interested in knowing what happened out there, pick up the CD. Is worth it!
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Summary: Should Be Required Reading for all Military Officers
Review: This book was an amazing description of the events in Somalia. The author's interviews of the participants in the battle led to a realistic and unforgiving account of how the United States use of less than all available military force led to a disaster. This book balances individual accounts of heroism against very fair critisizm of the leadership involved. Overall this was an excellent review. Even if you have seen the movie, it is worth reading the book. Despite the fact that I knew the ending, I couldn't put the book down.
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Summary: A Reason to Sleep Easy at Night
Review: This book is one that I would recommend to anyone, but especially young military officers/cadets and people with doubts about the training the military puts its troops through. The reason that I would say so for the former is that it teaches several lessons to the young military leader that cannot be tought simply through the lecture and drill that we go through en route to leading troops. I don't think that I had a true appreciation of the value of our training until I read this book and watched the film. THe book will really give you an appreciation of the soldiers you will lead. Furthermore, for those of us who anticipate combat in our future, there is no doubt that by taking notes on key points of this book that we can learn valuable lessons. Such as to never let your soldiers leave equipment behind, planning for the worst, etc, etc. For the latter, you will gain a very good appreciation for the men who serve to protect your freedom. I don't know many Army units around the world that could get trapped in a city pitted almost the entire population and be outnumbered 100 to some thousands and only lose 11 soldiers after almost 24 hours of intense combat. If 100 soldiers, with the aid of technology, discipline, training and support survive those odds, America's entire Army can win the battles we need to in order for us to maintain our precious freedom. However, the book is good for anyone. Mark Bowden writes in a litrary style such that it reads like fiction. The action is intense and it is an awesome case study about the new battlefield: Urban Terrain. If you are a war buff, a soldier or someone without confidence in our Army, read this, please. If you are just looking for a good book or interest in The Battle of the Black Sea, this is for you also. And, make no mistake about it, The Battle of the Black Sea was a success, despite any BS you may hear from the media.
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Summary: Instant Classic- Put this one at the very top of the list.
Review: Black Hawk Down is absolutely the best account of Modern Infantry combat you will find, and also an excellent analysis of America's role and limitations in the post Cold War world (although written before 9-11). I read this work completely mesmerized; Bowden wrote this book like someone would have written their doctoral dissertation-with painstainking research through an astonishing amount of interviews (including many Somalis who were in the battle), penetrating analysis of the geo-politics, and an insightful tribute to the courage and dedication of the men of Task Force Ranger and Delta Force teams. If you've seen the movie and liked it, do yourself a favor and read this book. The real story is intensely more layered, more complex, and ultimately more moving than the movie has time to convey, and drives home the point that the battle of Mogidishu really did set the stage for the climate that exists a decade later:
Writes Bowden, "(Somolia) stands as an enduring symbol of Third World ingratitude and intractability, of the futility of trying to resolve local animosity with international muscle." One can't help but think of later events such as the growth and proliferation of terror networks unafraid to confront the US, which of course led to 9-11 and the war in Afganistan. This book is an absolute watershed in that it is already studied at all the major war colleges, service academies, and Security agencies as THE definitive study of the battle that set the stage for American miltiary strategy in the early 21st century.
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Summary: Black Hawk Down
Review: This is an incredible depiction of an event that very few people know about, or care(d) to know about. A Holywood movie was made out of it, but that was more of an action movie... it didn't delve into the trenches of the politics. Bowden explains everything. As other reviewers have said, it reads like fiction. And that's oh so true. However, it doesn't read like bland fiction, more like detailed fiction where whenever they talk about a new proper noun (be it a person, gun, or city) they go deeply into it. Some people don't like that, and couldn't care less for it; they would rather read the action. But this isn't the right type of book for those people. If you can accept slightly-slowed-down-at-times fiction, that's real, then you'll love this. This goes into great detail... basically, I would reccommend it. I saw the movie first, and I assure you it's better than the movie. I am a Rambo-Terminator-Matrix action kinda guy, and didn't believe that an action movie could be accurately described in a book - boy was I wrong. It makes you, the reader, feel right there -as though you are a Ranger, or a Delta... as though you are Gary Gorden, or Mike Durant. However, in many ways, it shows the movie industrie's inability to keep things straight... for example: -When the chopper goes down, Durant uses an MP5-K. In the movie, however, he is depicted with an MP5-A2;. -Most of the M60 guns were M249s... -The movie completely ignored the fact that we had LAWs. -The movie had the convoy consist of about 10 vechiles and last maybe 100 meters. In real life (book), it was 200 vechiles, and it lasted 2 miles. SO, if you read it before the movie, you'll just be annoyed (look at me ;)) I honestly recommend reading after seeing movie... might seem odd, but is IMO better. First review... hope it helped your decision.
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Summary: Black Hawk Down, it's like you're right there.
Review: Black Hawk Down by Mark Bowden is the best book I've ever read. With his writing ability he makes you feel like your right there in the middle of all the action. He goes into great detail and sorts out all of the chaos. He puts all the events in order and takes a break from the battle to let us get to know the people in the battle. If you're weak in the heart area some of this could be bad for you because he goes into such great detail. "Pilla was shot right when they stepped onto National Road. He was killed instantly. The bullet entered his forehead and exited out the back of his skull. He flopped on the ground into Moynihan hands, who cried out in horror, covered with his friend's blood and brains." That is just one of the great descriptions that Mark gives you. This is an all around great book about a very tough day. A mission that should have taken an hour took eighteen, and ninety-nine men went in and eighteen were killed and many more wounded. But Somalis toll was worse they had more than five hundred men dead and more than one thousands wounded. The soldiers get stranded in a hostile city surrounded and fighting to stay alive. Two high-tech helicopters go down in the city. Nothing seems to be going right for these men. We don't really know much about this battle because of government secrets, and they think this was a failure, but Mark used his skills and got a ton of information and wrote a great book, just so that we can know what happened on October 3,1993.
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Summary: The Truth of the Raid at Somalia
Review: The book is a minute by minute account of raid into inner city Mogadishu, Somalia in 1993. After the movie came out, I had never really thought about reading the book until recently. In doing so I fonud that Mark Bowden's explaination of the raid at Mogadishu was more than in depth, but with such detail that it felt as though you were there. Bowden clearly exhibits the tactical precision that the Delta Force and Rangers carry out during the assault. Mark Bowden also shows what these soldiers were faced with and what they had to do now that their hopes of successfully completing their mission were shot when the crew of Super-Six One was shot out of the sky. Aside from watching the movie, the book let me realize that there was a lot more that went on than the securing of two downed MH-60 Black Hawk helicopters. Mark Bowden helps to realize the idea and inspiration that can be found during the raid at Somalia in 1993, 'LEAVE NO MAN BEHIND'.
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