Black Hawk Down Paperback – 6 July 2000

As is mainly the case these days, people will mainly think of the film rather than the originating book when Black Hawk Down is mentioned. And as involving and exciting as Ridley Scott's film is, the book actually manages to eclipse it. Well researched, and written with authority, it was impossible to put down once the operation has commenced, and things start to go wrong. Bowden's style puts the reader right next to the heart of the action, maintaining momentum by inter-cutting between the individual situations of the various characters as they try to get through the mayhem. In managing to elicit genuine interest in those characters - they are far more than military serial numbers - Bowden avoids going gung ho, and the soldiers are never portrayed as some type of supermen. Gripping, pacy and thought provoking, you certainly don't have to be a committed devotee of military history to enjoy this book.

I didn't know much about the war in Somalia before I read this book and was pleased to find accounts inside from both sides describing their version of events as they happened. The book is not a gung ho, blood and guts story. It follows the battle as it builds,describing the elation at first entering the battle to the fear and hopelessness felt by the american soldiers who felt abandoned and the anger felt by the somalis.It details immense bravery shown by both sides and I found it hard to put down. highly recommended.

Thoroughly enjoyed this book which gives a real "behind the scenes" insight into what was to become something of a game changer,for the u.s.a in particular,(as well as the united nations) as regards the use of miltary intervention as a way of influencing the outcome of other countries internal disputes.This incident certainly left a bad taste in the mouth for everyone involved on both sides.The book goes into a very detailed analysis of events which can be a little confusing to follow as it does get very "busy" and jumps around a lot between simultaneously occuring and historic events .There is also a great deal of reference to technical military type jargon which is also something of a distraction to the story line at times .However having said all that, I would say that (even for someone like me who would not normally search out books of this genre) this is a must read for all and I would thoroughly recommend.

First of all, this book seems to be very accurate. At the end of the book Mark Bowden explains how he pieced the dialogue together, and what criteria he used to verify facts. Also he tries to add as much Somali perspective as possible. I was also surprised that he added quite an extensive analysis of the reaction post-conflict, and how no one was really interested in finding out what actually happened.As usual in this sort of book, it`s quite difficult to understand exactly the location of the encounters and who did what. But then again, people who take part find it very hard to produce a simple coherent narrative. Mark does a good job of describing the characters involved, and more importantly, he doesn`t pull any punches, though he remains respectful of all the protagonists. It`s hard to remain insensitive to all of the killing, and this book shows that even the best troops cannot avoid collateral damage when in a tight spot.After reading this I can understand why a bunch of people would want to turn this into a film, but it`s hard to cram all the action into 2 hrs, all the actors look alike in uniform, it`s difficult to show the trues scale of what happened, and more importantly it`s very hard to draw attention to the key factors. The whole film seems to blur into one long uninterrupted fire fight.

The film Black Hawk Down is probably, in my opinion, one of the great modern war films and is based on this book. I think if Hollywood had stuck more strictly to the detailed and accurate account given by the author, Mark Bowden, the film would have been even better, but probably never made. Written like a gripping novel this book is startling in its telling and reveals both great bravery, arrogance and failings by the the US Forces in Somalia. The book also stands out as giving a snap shot of US foreign policy opinion prior to 9/11, Iraq and Afghanistan. It is an excellent, exciting read and a tribute to the brave men involved.

I saw the film some years ago and thought the action was perhaps 'amped up' a bit for Hollywood. I was wrong - the book conveys even more action and drama than you could imagine. I'd read 'Killing Pablo' by the same author which was similarly written: hugely detailed, well researched, and captivating to the end. Having finished reading 'Black Hawk Down', I cannot believe how incredible the conflict was. This is the best war book I have read, without question.

I am a big fan of military bio's, combat orientated and I have read some stunning pieces of history, this is outstanding in every dimension, Its an old book now but well worth the electronic version, I will be reading this again and again, So much information to take in and be in astonishment of, disbelief, dark humour, and awe of the bravery of the individual soldiers and the fact that more soldiers didn't die, Stories like this should be taught to Officers who have never faced combat, so they can see what command structure and communication can do for better or as in this case worse, for the troops on the ground. I place this in my top 5 all time books I have read

Think works as film much better. Find in print too disjointed and hard to follow.