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 writtena riveting story that captures the...
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Publisher:
2010
ISBN:
9781555846046
Comment
Add a CommentWritten using the macho language of the protagonists. Don't let that fool you into thinking that it is not well written. This book is gripping and tragic. The author gives personal insight and background of everyone in the story, you become attached to all of them, and heartbroken for those who don't survive.
Even almost 20 years after the events in this book, it continues to be a relevant account of the type of conflict our military experiences today.
Black Hawk Down by Mark Bowden
Read by: Anna/Copley Teen Room
Originally posted to the BPL Teen Blog on 7/31/2012.
This is the true story of what happened when an elite group of soldiers went into the city of Mogadishu, Somalia in order to capture an enemy. The capture was only supposed to take an hour. Instead, the American troops were surprised by the retaliation of Somalian people unwilling to let their leader go. The American soldiers were trapped, pinned down in several different areas of the city while a ground transport convoy wandered, lost, and getting torn to shreds trying to find them. Meanwhile, two Black Hawk helecopters were downed by RPGs, and no one in the air command could help ground troops get to them in time.
At times this mission seemed like a black comedy when nothing was going right. In the middle of the night, many hours after the mission was supposed to have ended, the ground forces were trying to meet up. Yet, they couldn’t find each other, feeling like each group were miles away even though they were actually sometimes only as far away as a few feet, separated by a simple concrete wall. This was a fantastic read, that had me riveted all the way though. I shook my head at the black comedy, frustrated that nothing was going right. Bowden made sure you felt each death as if these men in uniform were your own best friends. He writes in an afterword, published in 2010, that he meant to write the book as if it were the men themselves telling the story. He wanted to take himself out of the picture entirely, and I think he did a fantastic job. It was the right way to tell the story of these guys. But, not only does he tell the American side, he also went to Mogadishu and interviewed several locals to get their side of the story.
All I can really say is… wow. What a terrifying, comedic, brutal, truthful book. All I can say is, if you like reading about the military, or you’re thinking of joining, definitely read this book first. This does not diminish the truth of war by any stretch of the imagination.
read house to house !
Epic
Non stop action
Tells how war really is
Awesome. I loved this book, and it was a great read. I recommend it for people looking for this kind of stuff. Five stars! It's a bit gritty at points but it's by far one of the best war books I've ever read.
An awesome book full of action and acts of bravery as Task Force Ranger was badly out numbered and didn't have the proper air support. Another example of some general far from the bullets deciding AC-130 Spectre Gunships would not be required despite the fact the mission was their first in daylight and in the heart of a hostile city. Recommended!
way too many names and people