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Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War (Paperback) (平装)
by Mark Bowden
| Category:
Warfare, Story |
| Market price: ¥ 158.00
MSL price:
¥ 148.00
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| Stock:
Pre-order item, lead time 3-7 weeks upon payment [ COD term does not apply to pre-order items ] |
MSL rating:
 Good for Gifts |
| MSL Pointer Review:
Authoritative, gripping, and insightful, Black Hawk Down is a riveting look at the terror and exhilaration of combat, destined to become a classic of war reporting. |
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AllReviews |
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Gordon Cucullu (MSL quote), USA
<2007-02-01 00:00>
Writing about battles in a manner than makes the reader feel involved is more the genre of fiction than non-fiction. Mark Bowden accomplishes the extraordinarily difficult by accurately recounting the story of a brutal, desperate battle in a way that puts you right in the middle of the fight. The often overlooked battle of Mogadischu has been ignored or downplayed by many. It is to Bowden's great credit that he pulled back the curtain on this brave but ultimately futile action that many in the political sector were only too willing to keep hidden.
Bowden puts you in the helicopters beside the Rangers and Delta operators as they plunge into a routine mission gone terribly wrong. You sense the awful loss as comrades are killed or wounded and the helplessness of a small group of elite soldiers who are suddenly confronted by a guerrilla army of thousands in a dusty, dark, stinking pesthole on the Horn of Africa.
You share the bravery, loyalty and skill of these soldiers and you will weep over their loss. Even more troubling, you will recognize the utter waste when a vacillating and spineless political leadership abruptly yanks them out of Somalia on the verge of achieving the impossible goal - removal of 'General' Adid that the politicians had set in the first place.
That weakness of moral core was startling enough to give Osama bin Laden - present at the time in Somalia - the motivation to press his attack on the United States. The road to the attack on 9-11 begins on the Mogadishu Mile.
This is an important book from many points: to demonstrate the amazing character of the American soldier, to point out the ability of the US to carry out extremely difficult missions, and most of all to demonstrate the absolute necessity of having high level political backing for any commitment of military resources. Black Hawk Down has to be a part of any serious reader's library.
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Alex Granados (MSL quote), USA
<2007-02-01 00:00>
On October 3, 1993, less than a year after President Clinton began his first term as President of the United States and almost eight years before Sept. 11, 2001, a small force of U.S. Army Rangers and members of the elite Delta Force were helicoptered into the heart of Mogadishu, Somalia's war-torn capital, in a daring daylight raid to capture two of Somali clan leader Mohamed Farrah Aidid's top lieutenants. The plan was simple - drop four "chalks" of Rangers to secure a perimeter around the target building (near the Olympic Hotel) while the Delta commandos - the D-Boys, as the Rangers referred to them - gathered the prisoners. Then they'd be exfiltrated by a convoy of armed humvees and trucks and whisked back to the U.S. Army base in Mogadishu International Airport.
But, as General of the Army (and later President) Dwight Eisenhower once said, no military plan ever survives intact once the first shots are fired, so instead of a quick in-and-out raid, the 100 men of Task Force Ranger found themselves in the middle of a hostile and anarchic sector of Mogadishu known as the Bukara Market (and also as "the Black Sea"), engaged in what was, until the recent war in Iraq, the most sustained and deadly firefight in American military annals since Vietnam.
Mark Bowden, a long-time reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer, chronicles the harrowing "Battle of the Black Sea" in his bestselling book Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War with a fine eye for detail, a crisp and gripping narrative, and without bias toward either the Somalis or the Americans involved in the 18-hour firefight that left 18 American soldiers dead, over 70 wounded, and hundreds of Somali casualties. Despite having had no prior military experience or even any expertise on defense issues, Bowden has written a non-fiction work that joins such works as Cornelius Ryan's A Bridge Too Far and Lt. Gen. Hal Moore's We Were Soldiers Once...and Young as a true classic of military history.
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Chris Salzer (MSL quote), USA
<2007-02-01 00:00>
While others have written books recounting battles and wars, Mark Bowden has penned, in Black Hawk Down, an incredibly real, almost surreal, account of war that enthralls and invigorates like no other. When reading the book, you not only feel like you're there in the bustling and chaotic Bakara Market in impoverished Mogadishu, you also feel like you are a veritable member of Task Force Ranger. Bowden takes you, the reader, to the site of this tumultuous bloodshed vicariously through his exquisite and no-holds-barred account of modern warfare.
So much better than the movie, the book fully engrosses you and makes you root for the Rangers and Delta Force members, as they find themselves in for a real barn burner in hostile territory, overwhelmingly outnumbered by thousands of hostile drugged-out AK-47 toting clansmen. Despite only losing 18 valiant men to hundreds, if not thousands(depends who you ask) of Sammys, many seem to chalk The Battle of Mogadishu up as a destitute failure. Although it would have been a resounding success, if not for the inaction and incompetence of Secretary of Defense Les Aspin and President Clinton, Task Force Ranger nonetheless achieved their objectives of extracting two high-ranking clan leaders. The procurement of AC-130 Gunships, Abrams Tanks, and Bradley Fighting Vehicles, as requested by General Montgomery - and subsequently denied by Aspin, would have assured a more pragmatic, and in turn, more successful battle plan. This book is a tribute to the brave men and women, like Randy Shughart and Gary Gordon, who fight, and oftentimes die, so that we may be free.
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Andrew Adams (MSL quote), USA
<2007-02-01 00:00>
This book had me laughing on one page than crying on the next. It had me stand up salute the flag and cry "God Bless America" and than a few pages later wonder what in the world we were doing there in the first place. This book is quite possibly my favorite book of all time. For the true story of the Battle of Mogadishu (The Day of the Rangers) and Operation Restore Hope this is it. I think Mark Bowden does a good job of stating the facts and not placing the blame on former president Bill Clinton. (Hey I might hate the guy but Somalia really wasn't his fault.) I've recommended this book to all my friends and two of them also think it to be a great book. One thing that stands out is the difference in training, attitude, and ability between the Mountain Division troops, the Rangers, and Delta Force and other Commandoes. The vastly superior quality of Commando units, such as the D-boys, SEALs, and Paramedics was clearly evident. Still the rangers did very well considering they were made up of a lot of 19-21 year olds.
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C. Conard (MSL quote), USA
<2007-02-01 00:00>
I am fascinated with the events of Black Hawk Down in 1993 and studying them. This book gives all the information needed! At only 14, I am not a huge fan of war novels, but this one is special. Unlike most war novels, which tend to be too "technical", this novel actually lets you feel a sense of compassion for the characters. Other war books commonly can't do that.
The book, I think, is very interesting. Not only does it give you complete analysis, but I feel like I am a person there, even more so than I did when watching the film. Mark Bowden keeps the premise simple to understand, which makes it easier and more engaging for people to read and follow. The descriptions are insightful and vivid, and the feelings of the characters are comprehensively described in the book. I would recommend this to anyone who has an interest in the Black Hawk Down incident.
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Andrew (MSL quote), USA
<2007-02-01 00:00>
Destined to take it's place among war classics, Black Hawk Down is the story of the events in Somalia on October 3rd, 1993.
The books details a raid that the stationed U.S. Army Rangers staged against Mohamed Farah Aidid, a warlord who declared himself president of Somalia, and was hampering U.N. efforts to feed the starving country.
During the midafternoon, about 180 elite Amry Rangers and Delta Force troops dropped into Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, where they were to capture two lieutenants of the warlord.
Right as the mission began, things went wrong. One Ranger fell eighty feet from the Black Hawk that he was in to the ground. The Somalis, who were excited due to the raid, and due to the drugs that are common among the population began to attack the soldiers who also opened fire. Before too long, a fierce fire-fight began. After the prisoners were loaded onto the convoy of humvees and flatbeds, the convoy began to move out.
Then disaster struck. Using RPGs, (Rocket Propelled Granades) a Somali managed to hit on of the Black Hawk helicopters that was flying over head, causing it to crash to the ground, killing the crew. The soldier's mission changed from a raid to a rescue mission, and they had to fight their way to the crash site. The convoy was turned around, and proceeded to the crash site, but the trucks got lost, resulting in the deaths of a couple soldiers riding back.
Soon, another helicopter was also hit, and crashed, killing several of the crew, and this time, there was no rescue for the survivors.
By the end of the mission, which was supposed to last for an hour, but dragged on into the night, 18 soldiers, of the Rangers and Delta Force were killed, and 73 were seriously wounded. Three more Black Hawks were shot up and forced down, but they returned to the base where they were stationed.
This story is among the most horrifying and realistic that I have read. Bowden pulled this story off spectacularly, and I felt that I was in the action while reading it. It flows quickly, making the book about a 1-3 day read. The book divides cleanly into thirds. Right off the bat, he drags us in with the troops going into battle, then backs up and described the base life, and the mission backrounds. Then he moves onto the attack, and then onto the aftermath and rescue of the only surviving pilot, Mike Durant.
Bowden's description of the battle is as realistic as can be. As the soldiers landed, he describes their reactions and thoughts, and accuratly shows the tensions between the Delta Force and Rangers. As the fight escalated, he also describes the Ranger's need to get to the crash sites, with problems between them and the air and the Somalis fighting them.
This is a true war classic.
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Patrick Zenk (MSL quote), USA
<2007-02-01 00:00>
Blackhawk Down is the first readable war story of my generation. I've followed the development of Mark Bowden's book since his first publication of the story in the Philadelphia newspaper. A few years prior to the battle of Mogadishu, I was myself a member of the 3rd Ranger Battalion. At the age of 19, I was a sent to invade Panama as a member of this unit and was fortunate to know several of the men in this book. As a former Ranger, I will tell you that Bowden left nothing out about how these elite units fight, survive, and think. Every moment of the book is the real, gut-wrenching, dirt filled, in your face brutal truth of what it's like to be of this generation and in combat. He accurately and vividly describes the failures of the US administration, the intelligence community, and the soldiers themselves. Bowden also recreates the success brought about in these units through preparation, tough training, discipline, and dedication to your fellow soldiers. Folks, if you ever wanted to know why your tax money goes to fund military training, then read this book. If you ever doubted the military and thought its harsh, disciplined lifestyle was unnecessarily brutal and unkind, then read this book. If you've ever thought about joining the military just for the college money, thinking that you'll never have to fight, then read this book. This one will slap you in the face with the reality of today's elite military units.
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Brian Rubendall (MSL quote), USA
<2007-02-01 00:00>
Cheers to author Mark Bowden. Thanks to his incredibly dedicated research and excellent storytelling ability, he was able to resurrect the quickly fading memory of America's military "debacle" in Somalia and give the troops who fought (and died) there their proper due. For the most part, Bowden doesn't get bogged down with the details of WHY the U.N. and American troops were in Somlaia in the first place (though he does give enough of an overview to set the proper context), nor does he go in depth into how Somalia descended into lawlessness. Bowden's story is of the soldiers, and it is a story he tells as well as any combat chronicler has ever done.
Bowden focusses on the soldiers of Delta Force and of the U.S. Army Rangers who on October 3, 1993, were sent on a daylight mission ointo the section of Mogadishu controlled by Warlord Mohamed Aidid two apprehend two of Aided's top lieutenants. Despite popular perceptions (fueled by the media) that the mission was a disaster, it was actually a tactical success. The force captured its targets and at the same time inflicted tremendous casualties (many times their own) on Aided's forces. Unfortunately, the political leadership in the U.S. and the American media focussed intead on the two downed Blackhawk helicopters and the deaths of 18 soldiers. What was overlooked was the fact that the American casualties were among America's most elite fighters who had all volunteered to join the units they were in with the expectation that they would someday get tested in real combat. Bowden drives this point home relentlessly.
The battle scens in the book are incredibly detailed and told from every point of view (even that of the Somalis, some of whom Bowden interviewed). Bowden is also scrupulously fair, letting the participants speak for themselves and not censoring them when they criticize each other. The book's most valuable portion, however, is the epiloge, where Bowden reports the soldiers' biggest disappointment was that right after the battle, President Clinton, pushed by Congress, decided to get out of Somalia and leave Aidid in place. In other words, they had fought the battle in vain.
Overall, "Black Hawk Down" is one of the best military history books written in the past decade or so.
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Glenn Frazier (MSL quote), USA
<2007-02-01 00:00>
Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War, by Mark Bowden, is an in-the-streets account of the now infamous seventh mission of Task Force Ranger and Delta Force in Mogadishu, Somalia. Militarily, the mission was a success; politically, it was a disaster.
Black Hawk Down was recently released as a major motion picture. I haven't (yet) seen the film, but even to those who have I strongly suggest reading this book. In addition to being made as a movie, an even earlier version of this book appeared as a series of articles in the Philadelphia Inquirer. Additionally, there is a "companion documentary" (Somalia: Good Intentions, Deadly Results), a shorter version of which has appeared on CNN. Of course, the most famous media related to this story is the news footage of the dead American soldiers being dragged through the streets by angry mobs; second to that would be the image of Black Hawk pilot Mike Durant's smashed face in the video made of him by his captors. Both of these are around; if you really need a reminder, try Google.
In the 1990's, the United States found itself in three separate conflicts in (at least partially) Muslim lands. The Gulf War was a conventional military venture, the UN missions in the former Yugoslavia represented a basic-albeit convoluted-peace-keeping venture. The nation-building force in Somalia after the initial famine-busting mission heavily involved special operations. The first sent ripples among the military theorists of nations across the world; the second involved the civilizationally odd American preference to support the Muslim community over that of Orthodox and Western forces; the third was seen as a victory of sorts by Third Worlders and Islamists who drew from it the lesson that America could be shocked into backing out of a conflict. Understanding each of these conflicts-militarily, politically, and culturally-is important to understanding this greater conflict we are now in. Black Hawk Down does much to shed light on the personal and tactical elements in the Somlian campaign's bloodiest battle.
While Mark Bowden is a journalist and is quite clear about saying he has no background or experience in combat tactics, covert operations, military strategy, etc., this book is very illuminating. Since the book's publication, Bowden has been invited to address the Military Operations Research Society, the U.S. Military Academy (West Point) the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College (Ft. Leavenworth), and the Central Intelligence Agency. The book been personally recommended by the U.S. Marine Corps commandant and is part of the mandatory reading curriculum at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College.
So how did this journalist write something that garnered so much respect among military professionals? Quite simply, he tells the soldiers' tales and he tells them straight. The political backdrop, the larger strategic military picture, the command decisions made outside of Mog-these he treats lightly and only as much as needed to provide context for the first-hand accounts of the Americans and Somalis that were actually there. This is a street-level, blow-by-blow narrative of some of the most intense combat American forces have faced since the Vietnam War, and nearly every word of it is drawn either from interviews with combatants, from transcripts of radio traffic, or from video footage shot by U.S. military personnel.
I read this book over Memorial Day weekend this year. It was extremely appropriate. Overall I really enjoyed this book and feel I've learned quite a bit from the experience. I had already read a shorter account of overlapping events-from the CIA perspective-written by Vernon Loeb for the Washington Post, titled "After Action Report", but this book fills in details that the other perspective lacked. (At the same time, I strongly recommend you read "After Action Report" as well.) I've heard criticisms of the film that said it was often hard to tell one character from another; I could say the same for the book. At the same time, the sense of confusion that sometimes creeps into the narrative is, in fact, a natural consequence of the fact that this is combat, as experienced by modern soldiers. By the time you complete the book, you'll have enough information to get a remarkably complete picture of the "Battle of the Black Sea"; while in the midst of it, though, you may well find yourself flipping back through the book to remind yourself which unit and which part of the city you are currently reading about.
All in all, this is a book well worth reading, and have added it to my Warblogger's Bookshelf. It is an insight into the terrible human experience of modern warfare, set within a significant series of events whose importance were not fully understood in their own time. If it were fiction, I'd say it was a brilliant, thrilling "page turner"; it, however, is not. It is the story of a handful of American soldiers who really lived and (some of them) died, often in stunningly heroic ways. To understand a part of what emboldened enemies such as Al Qaeda, to learn what modern unconventional combat can be like, to renew your faith in the courage and skill of the folks in America's armed forces, read this book.
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Fred Mertz (MSL quote), USA
<2007-02-01 00:00>
I read a fair amount of historical non-fiction and was taught throughout high school to think critically when reading. Check sources, check author's tone, point of the writing, points of view being used, context, and so forth. Apparently Mark Bowden, the author, comes from the same school of thought. He writes a thorough and genuine account of a sadly-ignored incident in US history.
I can recall the newspaper accounts of the time, wondering what we were doing there and why, after taking such incredible beatings, we were leaving. Rather than do the research to find out why, Mr. Bowden has compiled this book, which rightfully deserves its place on any historian's bookshelf.
Bowden's accounting of the events and context are flawless. His research is uncommonly thorough, and given the opportunity to write the first really comprehensive accounting of the events, he makes the most of it. His attention to detail, his recreation of the timeline, and his notes are worthy of emulation by future students of history.
All that is nothing without good writing, and Bowden keeps a reader locked into the story. As hard as some of it is to read because of the imagery and concomitant emotional responses, Bowden leads you through the battles at ground level, at eye level from helicopter platforms, at screen level from command centers. At the end of the book one wonders how you survive the reading; how much worse to have been there in it? I was exhausted mentally, and therein lies the demanding aspect of the book.
So much goes on, so many players become involved, that a cheet sheet and glossary of some terms would've helped immensely. Even a cast of characters would've been of some utility, but eventually, I just bore down and focused. Some questions were answered in the notes, others reveal their answers upon later reflection.
In all, I daresay adding my review to the nearly 400 others won't make someone any more inclined to buy a 5-star book if they've ignored the other 399 reviewers, but this is my review and I'm sticking to it.
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