Black Hawk Down

Mark Bowden

Language: English

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1934- 1992-1993 Africa Africa - Central Africa - General Aidid Army Central East General History History - Military Military Military - Other Military - Strategy Military - United States Mohammed Farah Operation Restore Hope Other Politics Strategy Task Force Ranger United States United States - History United States. War

Publisher: New American Library

Published: Jan 3, 2002

Description:

EDITORIAL REVIEW: The acclaimed *New York Times* bestseller *Black Hawk Down* is "a shocking account of modern warfare . . . gripping and horrifying" (*San Francisco Chronicle*) Destined to become a classic of war reporting, *Black Hawk Down* is Mark Bowden's brilliant account of the longest sustained firefight involving American troops since the Vietnam War. On October 3rd, 1993, about a hundred elite U.S. soldiers were dropped by helicopter into the teeming market in the heart of Mogadishu, Somalia. Their mission was to abduct two top lieutenants of a Somali warlord and return to base. It was supposed to take an hour. Instead they found themselves pinned down through a long and terrible night fighting against thousands of heavily armed Somalis. The following morning, eighteen Americans were dead and more than seventy had been badly injured.Drawing on interviews from both sides, army records, audiotapes, and videos (some of the material is still classified), Bowden's minute-by-minute narrative is one of the most exciting accounts of modern combat ever written--a riveting story that captures the heroism, courage, and brutality of battle."*Black Hawk Down* ranks among the best books ever written about infantry combat. . . . A descendent of books like *The Killer Angels* and *We Were Soldiers Once . . . and Young*."-- Bob Shacochis, *The New York Observer*"If *Black Hawk Down* were fiction we'd rank it up there with the best war novels: *The Naked* and *the Dead* by Norman Mailer, or *The Things They Carried*, by Tim O'Brien."-- Tom Walker, *The Denver Post*"Stands in a league with Shelby Foote's stirring Civil War Diary, *Shiloh*."-- Jim Haner, *The Baltimore Sun*"One of the most gripping and authoritative accounts of combat ever written."-- Kirk Spitzer, *USA Today*"Amazing . . . One of the most intense, visceral reading experiences imaginable."-- *The Philadelphia Inquirer* A *New York Times* bestseller for 14 weeks Bowden's *Black Hawk Down* series, which appeared in the *Philadelphia Inquirer* was awarded the Overseas Press Club's Hal Boyle Award for best foreign reporting

In 1993, a band of U.S. soldiers in Somalia were on a mission to capture two lieutenants of a Somali warlord. Through the night, in the longest sustained fighting by American troops since Vietnam, they battled thousands of armed Somalis. By morning, 18 Americans were dead. Now a major motion picture from Columbia Pictures, directed by Ridley Scott and starring Ewan McGregor, Josh Hartnett, and Sam Shepard, set for release in March 2002.

EDITORIAL REVIEW: The acclaimed *New York Times* bestseller *Black Hawk Down* is "a shocking account of modern warfare . . . gripping and horrifying" (*San Francisco Chronicle*) Destined to become a classic of war reporting, *Black Hawk Down* is Mark Bowden's brilliant account of the longest sustained firefight involving American troops since the Vietnam War. On October 3rd, 1993, about a hundred elite U.S. soldiers were dropped by helicopter into the teeming market in the heart of Mogadishu, Somalia. Their mission was to abduct two top lieutenants of a Somali warlord and return to base. It was supposed to take an hour. Instead they found themselves pinned down through a long and terrible night fighting against thousands of heavily armed Somalis. The following morning, eighteen Americans were dead and more than seventy had been badly injured.Drawing on interviews from both sides, army records, audiotapes, and videos (some of the material is still classified), Bowden's minute-by-minute narrative is one of the most exciting accounts of modern combat ever written--a riveting story that captures the heroism, courage, and brutality of battle."*Black Hawk Down* ranks among the best books ever written about infantry combat. . . . A descendent of books like *The Killer Angels* and *We Were Soldiers Once . . . and Young*."-- Bob Shacochis, *The New York Observer*"If *Black Hawk Down* were fiction we'd rank it up there with the best war novels: *The Naked* and *the Dead* by Norman Mailer, or *The Things They Carried*, by Tim O'Brien."-- Tom Walker, *The Denver Post*"Stands in a league with Shelby Foote's stirring Civil War Diary, *Shiloh*."-- Jim Haner, *The Baltimore Sun*"One of the most gripping and authoritative accounts of combat ever written."-- Kirk Spitzer, *USA Today*"Amazing . . . One of the most intense, visceral reading experiences imaginable."-- *The Philadelphia Inquirer* A *New York Times* bestseller for 14 weeks Bowden's *Black Hawk Down* series, which appeared in the *Philadelphia Inquirer* was awarded the Overseas Press Club's Hal Boyle Award for best foreign reporting

In 1993, a band of U.S. soldiers in Somalia were on a mission to capture two lieutenants of a Somali warlord. Through the night, in the longest sustained fighting by American troops since Vietnam, they battled thousands of armed Somalis. By morning, 18 Americans were dead. Now a major motion picture from Columbia Pictures, directed by Ridley Scott and starring Ewan McGregor, Josh Hartnett, and Sam Shepard, set for release in March 2002.

Already a classic of war reporting and now reissued as a Grove Press paperback, Black Hawk Down is Mark Bowden’s brilliant account of the longest sustained firefight involving American troops since the Vietnam War. On October 3, 1993, about a hundred elite U.S. soldiers were dropped by helicopter into the teeming market in the heart of Mogadishu, Somalia. Their mission was to abduct two top lieutenants of a Somali warlord and return to base. It was supposed to take an hour. Instead, they found themselves pinned down through a long and terrible night fighting against thousands of heavily armed Somalis. The following morning, eighteen Americans were dead and more than seventy had been badly wounded.
Drawing on interviews from both sides, army records, audiotapes, and videos (some of the material is still classified), Bowden’s minute-by-minute narrative is one of the most exciting accounts of modern combat ever written—a riveting story that captures the heroism, courage, and brutality of battle.

**

Amazon.com Review

Journalist Mark Bowden delivers a strikingly detailed account of the 1993 nightmare operation in Mogadishu that left 18 American soldiers dead and many more wounded. This early foreign-policy disaster for the Clinton administration led to the resignation of Secretary of Defense Les Aspin and a total troop withdrawal from Somalia. Bowden does not spend much time considering the context; instead he provides a moment-by-moment chronicle of what happened in the air and on the ground. His gritty narrative tells of how Rangers and elite Delta Force troops embarked on a mission to capture a pair of high-ranking deputies to warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid only to find themselves surrounded in a hostile African city. Their high-tech MH-60 Black Hawk helicopters had been shot down and a number of other miscues left them trapped through the night. Bowden describes Mogadishu as a place of Mad Max-like anarchy--implying strongly that there was never any peace for the supposed peacekeepers to keep. He makes full use of the defense bureaucracy's extensive paper trail--which includes official reports, investigations, and even radio transcripts--to describe the combat with great accuracy, right down to the actual dialogue. He supplements this with hundreds of his own interviews, turning Black Hawk Down into a completely authentic nonfiction novel, a lively page-turner that will make readers feel like they're standing beside the embattled troops. This will quickly be realized as a modern military classic. --John J. Miller

From Publishers Weekly

This is military writing at its breathless best. Bowden (Bringing the Heat) has used his journalistic skills to find and interview key participants on both sides of the October 1993 raid into the heart of Mogadishu, Somalia, a raid that quickly became the most intensive close combat Americans have engaged in since the Vietnam War. But Bowden's gripping narrative of the fighting is only a framework for an examination of the internal dynamics of America's elite forces and a critique of the philosophy of sending such high-tech units into combat with minimal support. He sees the Mogadishu engagement as a portent of a disturbing future. The soldiers' mission was to seize two lieutenants of a powerful Somali warlord. Despite all their preparation and training, the mission unraveled and they found themselves fighting ad hoc battles in ad hoc groups. Eschewing the post facto rationalization that characterizes so much military journalism, Bowden presents snapshots of the chaos at the heart of combat. On page after page, in vignette after vignette, he reminds us that war is about breaking things and killing people. In Mogadishu that day, there was no room for elaborate rules of engagement. In the end, it was a task force of unglamorous "straight-leg" infantry that saved the trapped raiders. Did the U.S. err by creating elite forces that are too small to sustain the attrition of modern combat? That's one of the key questions Bowden raises in a gripping account of combat that merits thoughtful reading by anyone concerned with the future course of the country's military strategy and its relationship to foreign policy.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.