Black Hawk Down - by Mark Bowden (Paperback)

About the Book

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.

Book Synopsis

The #1 New York Times Bestseller

The "riveting" (Wall Street Journal) account of the 1993 operation in Mogadishu, Somalia--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. 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), Mark 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.

"Amazing. . . . One of the most intense, visceral reading experiences imaginable."--The Philadelphia Inquirer

"One of the most gripping and authoritative accounts of combat ever written."--USA Today

Review Quotes

"Black Hawk Down is destined to become a military classic."--The Washington Times

"Amazing . . . One of the most intense, visceral reading experiences imaginable. . . . The individual stories are woven together in such a compelling and expert fashion, the narrative flows so seamlessly, that it's hard to imagine that this is not fiction. And, in the end, what makes this book stand out from the current crop of nonfiction thrillers is that its impact and significance are so very much greater than the sum of its very many parts."--Michael Maren, The Philadelphia Inquirer (front cover review)

"In Black Hawk Down, Mark Bowden has reconstructed this extremely violent episode with amazing vividness and detail. The reader can visualize the action, smell the dust and sweat and the reek of explosives, and even enter into the exultation, fear, rage, pain, confusion, and exhaustion of the combatants. Bowden never loses sight of the human qualities and reactions that are, in the end, decisive in battle. Because he was able to interview survivors on both sides relatively soon after the action, Bowden's story has a vitality and freshness usually lacking in accounts of combat. He was written an extraordinary book. It is also a shocking one." --Brian Urquhart, The New York Review of Books

"In Black Hawk Down, author Mark Bowden presents a riveting, minute-by-minute account of the battle, told from the perspective of the soldiers who fought for their lives in the narrow, dusty streets. . . . One of the most gripping and authoritative accounts of combat ever written."--Kirk Spitzer, USA Today

"Riveting."--Mark Yost, The Wall Street Journal

"A vivid, immediate and unsparing narrative."--Jonathan Yardley, Washington Post

"With Black Hawk Down, Mark Bowden ably details that grim action in a fast-paced factual account that reads like a non-fiction thriller. . . . Through exhaustive research and interviews with the survivors, Bowden masterfully transcribes not just the swirling chaotic events, but also the heightening of charged emotions as the battle intensified. . . . an engrossing read, a well-told tale of modern combat."--Scott Taylor, The Globe and Mail (Toronto)

"One of the finest combat reconstructions in the annals of warfare. . . . The result of Bowden's efforts is a detailed after-action report that stands in a league with Shelby Foote's stirring Civil War diary Shiloh--rare in its completeness, compassion and reverence for the valor of young men cast into extraordinary circumstances."--Jim Haner, The Baltimore Sun

"Black Hawk Down ranks among the best books ever written about infantry combat. . . . Anybody who has spent a day with contemporary America's warriors will recognize immediately the authenticity of Black Hawk Down. It's an intimate, minute-by-minute chronicle of suffering, futility and courage, infused with the Gen-X-speak of the 20-something soldiers, who talk about their profession as an extreme sport, way cool until the killing starts."--Bob Shacochis, The New York Observer

"Bowden has crafted the quintessential story of men in combat. . . . 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. There are woefully few (Stephen Ambrose's work on World War II may come close) nonfiction books about combat with which to compare it. Bowden captures the essence of combat--the sights and sounds, the terror and the determination, the sheer will to survive. It's an intense and impressive work."--Tom Walker, The Denver Post

"Mark Bowden's Black Hawk Down is a minute-by-minute reconstruction of the climactic battle in the short, ill-fated American military campaign in Mogadishu. . . . His account, built on interview with battle participants and Army records, has great immediacy . . . Bowden shifts narrative point of view rapidly and regularly, from one battle participant to the next. Thus, we ride to the battle with Rangers who see themselves as 'predators, heavy metal avengers, unstoppable, invincible, ' and we feel the confusion and panic of individual soldiers as the operation begins to unravel. . . . Some of the best passages of Black Hawk Down tell the story from the Somali point of view. . . their accounts help make sense of the overwhelming popular hostility that the Americans faced. . . . Bowden has performed an important service by picking out and meticulously dramatizing such a turning point in recent history."--William Finnegan, The New York Times Book Review (front cover)

"Journalistic writing at its best."--Don Murray, Boston Globe

"Black Hawk Down may one day stand as one of the most realistic books ever written about soldiers under fire and, by extension, the role of the American military in a post-superpower, police-action world."--Chicago Tribune

"Mark Bowden . . . has told the story with a driving narrative in a treatment that proceeds with dignity like the measured tread of history, yet glows with the passion of a memoir."--San Antonio Express News

"Black Hawk Down has the power of an ambush . . . a suspenseful and gruesome account of modern war that's impossible to put down."--Orlando Sentinel

"The author inserts the reader right into battle . . . [Bowden] uses a narrative style to paint a faithful description of the sights, sounds, smells and tastes of combat."--James W. Crawley, The San Diego Union-Tribune (front cover review)

"This is military writing at its breathless best. Bowden has used his journalistic skills to kind 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 Vietnam. . . . 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. . . . 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."--Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"A searing look at one specific incident during the US military action in Somalia. . . . A look at modern war in the tradition of the great war correspondents. Gripping, passionate, and impossible to put down."--Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"Gut-wrenching good . . . a dog soldier's perspective of modern warfare that rivals any D-day scene in Saving Private Ryan." --Kevin Giordano, Maxim

"Mark Bowden has produced a superb account of the October 1993 battle of Mogadishu. His graphic description of the fiercest firefight involving U.S. troops since the Vietnam war will resonate well beyond the military history enthusiasts who typically lap up such fare . . . enthralling narrative . . . riveting description of what might be called the first battle of the 21st century."--Sean D. Naylor, The Washington Monthly

"Black Hawk Down vividly depicts the confusion, courage, friction and sheer terror of close combat. . . . The narrative evokes the smell and taste of battle and is every bit as good as that found in S.L.A. Marshall's Pork Chop Hill, a classic of the Korean War."--LTC (Ret.) A. E. Miller, Army Times

"This after-action report is an admirable effort to record the skill and heroism 'of ninety-nine American soldiers trapped in an ancient African city and fighting for their lives.' With a good reporter's attention to detail and a novelist's appreciation of the lingo of the professional military, the author has written a vivid account of deadly, hand-to-hand urban fighting. This is an authoritative picture of the Rangers and the men of Delta Force who think of themselves as 'faster, stronger, smarter, and more experienced than any soldier in the world.'"--U.S. Naval Institute's Proceedings

"Dramatically, graphically reconstructing the October 1993 gun battle in Mogadishu, Somalia, journalist Bowden leaves nothing about combat to the imagination. . . . It is a horribly fascinating bullet-by-bullet story, in which the purpose of Americans in Somalia fades to irrelevance amidst the immediate desperation of fighting. . . . In effective New Journalism style, Bowden projects the individual soldier's thinking: his pride in his elite training, his surprise at the strangeness of combat, his determination to hold out until rescue, and in two instances, his pure self-sacrificial heroism. An account impossible to stop reading, especially for those with army associations."--Gilbert Taylor, Booklist

"A battle that changed the world, Black Hawk Down will alter how we look at the modern battlefield and the respect we have for those who fight on it. The story sends you from anger to tears, from laughter to quiet moments alone. It is the power of the personal accounts and the research of the author that brings the 1993 battle into your heart. Mark Bowden is not a military expert, but his manner and style of reporting earned him the respect of some family members and the people he interviewed. Thus the book becomes the combatants story told through a single author. A book not built on finger pointing or blame, yet is well aware of all of the issues. At the end of the book the author looks at many of the issues and dedicates it to the people who fought the good fight. That dedication was forged starting on his first interview, and has developed into a book for generations."--www.nightstalkers.com

"Bowden has succeeded in writing what will doubtless soon be considered one of the most important works on military combat in the post Cold War era. Perhaps the best book ever written on military special operation forces (SOF) in a combat environment, Black Hawk Down provides unseen view into the world of both overt and covert warfare. . . . We are rewarded with a story that reveals the complex and chaotic events of October 1993 in a manner that is as breathlessly exciting as it is informative."--Tom Hunter, www.specialoperations.com

"Your account of the events in Mogadishu on October 3, 1993 is an inspirational and evocative retelling of one of the most significant military operations of the past 10 years. Though there is heroism and professionalism aplenty, you also bring out the errors and missed opportunities that contributed to the unfortunate outcome of the mission. Both senior leaders and young soldiers can learn much from this compelling story. . . . Black Hawk Down will occupy an honored place in my personal library."--General Henry H. Shelton, Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff

"Terrifyingly real . . . Mark Bowden shoves you into the middle of this fierce battle and has you fighting for your life."--U.S. Army Major David Stockwell, spokesman for Task Force Ranger

"A riveting, up-close account of the most intensive, hand-to-hand combat by U.S. soldiers since Vietnam. In their own words, Mark Bowden has captured the heroism, honor, and horror of the battle of Mogadishu for both Americans and Somalis."--United States Ambassador Robert Oakley (Ret.), author of Somalia and Operation Restore Hope

"A fascinating, blow-by-blow account of the Mogadishu raid that went wrong and cost the lives of so many brave American warriors . . . Meticulous reporting."--Joseph L. Galloway, co-author of We Were Soldiers Once . . . and Young

"The only thing more phenomenal than the depth of reporting in Black Hawk Down is the quality of the writing. Mark Bowden is a brilliant storyteller." --Jim Naughton, president of the Poynter Institute for Journalism

"Bowden [has] produced one of the finest pieces of investigative journalism of our time. . . . [You] can feel, hear, smell, and even taste it."--Lt. Col. L. H. "Bucky" Burruss, U.S. Army (Ret.), author of Mike Force, A Mission for Delta, and Clash of Steel

"I did not 'read' Mark Bowden's Black Hawk Down . . . I devoured it. It is a compelling tale of noble endeavor gone awry, written with such clarity and insight that the reader quivers as if trapped in the desperate, close-quarters firefight Bowden's gifted narrative brings to life."--Benjamin F. Schemmer, editor in chief, Strategic Review

About the Author

MARK BOWDEN is the author of seven books, including The Best Game Ever, Bringing the Heat, Killing Pablo, and Guests of the Ayatollah. He reported at The Philadelphia Inquirer for twenty years and now writes for Vanity Fair, The Atlantic, and other magazines. He lives in Oxford, Pennsylvania.