War as seen by the GI

"Blackhawk Down" is an account of "Bloody Sunday", a battle between Americans and Somalis that occurred on Sunday, October 3, 1993. Eighteen Americans and over 500 Somalis died. This blurb on the bookjacket understates the impact of the book: "Ninety-nine elite American soldiers are trapped in the middle of a hostile city, they are surrounded by thousands of enemy gunmen. Their wounded are bleeding to death. Their ammunition and supplies are dwindling. This is the story of how they got there - and how they fought their way out. This is the story of war."

Author Mark Bowden related in a CSPAN interview that he had heard of Bloody Sunday while covering politics for "The Philadelphia Inquirer". He recognized that this battle must have a fascinating story and he was sure someone would cover the story and he would learn more. He was a political reporter with no military background, and never considered reporting on it himself. Two years passed and the battle seemed forgotten by both the press and the government. His curiosity got the best of him and he contacted the family of one of the slain soldiers. Through this contact he was able to locate some of the enlisted soldiers who fought in the battle. He wound up reconstructing the battle by interviewing hundreds of soldiers from both sides of the conflict. He clearly spent much more time with the actual combatants than he did with Generals and politicians.

The book itself follows many of the individual soldiers through their part of the battle. The book moves fast, and the reader begins to feel a little of the confusion and fog of war that gripped the participants.

I could almost hear the helicopters, the gunfire, the roar of trucks and humvees. The book is intense and captivating from start to finish. There is an excellent PBS "Frontline" special that supplements the book. Highly Recommended.