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A review by books_and_tea_brie
Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War by Mark Bowden
5.0
One of the best books I've ever read. I thought about just making that my review, because what higher praise could I give it? But I couldn't do that; this book affected me to much to leave it at that.
I'm really not sure how to describe all the feelings this book brought out for me. You literally feel like you are there with the soldiers, it all feels so incredibly real. Bowden describes the mentality of the Rangers and Delta soldiers in Mogadishu, and how desperate they were for a 'real' fight. He interviewed some Somalis who were there, who talked about the battle and how early on they were happy with the intervention by the US and the UN. But that quickly deteriorated with the US's actions trying to capture Aidid. "Mogadishu felt brutalized and harassed." We see what the battle was really like through the eyes of the soldiers there, and how it affected them. Bowden says there is little bitterness in the soldiers who went through this ordeal, and that "What anger exists relates more to the decision to call off the mission [Task Force Ranger] the day after the battle than anything that happened during it.". After reading what these guys went through, I can't even begin to imagine how you deal with that.
This is (so far) the only military non-fiction book I have read. I am embarrassed to say if it weren't for the movie, I would have no idea the Battle of the Black Sea, or more commonly known as Black Hawk Down, even took place. Granted, I was 11 when it happened, but you still think something like this would have been more prevalent so that I would have been exposed to it prior to seeing the movie. But unfortunately that's not the case. The US has effectively slipped this one under the rug for numerous reasons, and I think many Americans don't know much about it. Shortly after I got my Kindle, Amazon was having a special, and this book was offered for $1. I liked the movie and the book had great reviews, so I went for it, even though it's not what I normally read. Then it sat on my Kindle for a year. I'm not sure why it took me so long to read it, but I'm just glad that I finally did. This book lived up to my expectations, and far surpassed them.
As I was afraid, this review doesn't really do justice to how I feel about the book. But I tried. Highly Recommended.
I'm really not sure how to describe all the feelings this book brought out for me. You literally feel like you are there with the soldiers, it all feels so incredibly real. Bowden describes the mentality of the Rangers and Delta soldiers in Mogadishu, and how desperate they were for a 'real' fight. He interviewed some Somalis who were there, who talked about the battle and how early on they were happy with the intervention by the US and the UN. But that quickly deteriorated with the US's actions trying to capture Aidid. "Mogadishu felt brutalized and harassed." We see what the battle was really like through the eyes of the soldiers there, and how it affected them. Bowden says there is little bitterness in the soldiers who went through this ordeal, and that "What anger exists relates more to the decision to call off the mission [Task Force Ranger] the day after the battle than anything that happened during it.". After reading what these guys went through, I can't even begin to imagine how you deal with that.
This is (so far) the only military non-fiction book I have read. I am embarrassed to say if it weren't for the movie, I would have no idea the Battle of the Black Sea, or more commonly known as Black Hawk Down, even took place. Granted, I was 11 when it happened, but you still think something like this would have been more prevalent so that I would have been exposed to it prior to seeing the movie. But unfortunately that's not the case. The US has effectively slipped this one under the rug for numerous reasons, and I think many Americans don't know much about it. Shortly after I got my Kindle, Amazon was having a special, and this book was offered for $1. I liked the movie and the book had great reviews, so I went for it, even though it's not what I normally read. Then it sat on my Kindle for a year. I'm not sure why it took me so long to read it, but I'm just glad that I finally did. This book lived up to my expectations, and far surpassed them.
As I was afraid, this review doesn't really do justice to how I feel about the book. But I tried. Highly Recommended.