Black Hawk Down

By: Mark Bowden

Narrated by: Alan Sklar

Ninety-nine elite American soldiers are trapped in the middle of a hostile city. As night falls, 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.

Black Hawk Down drops you into a crowded marketplace in the heart of Mogadishu, Somalia with the U.S. Special Forces and puts you in the middle of the most intense firelight American soldiers have fought since the Vietnam war.

Late in the afternoon of Sunday, October 3, 1993, the soldiers of Task Form Ranger were sent on a mission to capture two top lieutenants of a renegade warlord and return to base. It was supposed to take them about an hour. Instead, they were pinned down through a long and terrible night, locked in a desperate struggle to kill or be killed.

When the unit was finally rescued the following morning, 18 American soldiers were dead and dozens more badly injured. The Somali toll was far worse; more than five hundred felled and over a thousand wounded. Award-winning literary journalist Mark Bowden's dramatic narrative captures this harrowing ordeal through the eyes of the young men who fought that day. He draws on his extensive interviews of participants from both sides - as well as classified combat video and radio transcripts - to bring their stories to life.

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.

©1999 Mark Bowden (P)2012 Simon and Schuster

Critic reviews

" Black Hawk Down ranks as one of the best books ever written about infantry combat." (The New York Observer)

Incredible

First off let me say that this is my favorite book that I've purchased on audible. So much so that I am leaving a review. I've read the book once, but decided it wouldn't hurt to listen to it. And I'm so glad I did.
The way this book presents itself and the way it presents the moment to moment lives of soldiers is painfully and plainly real. In stark contrast to other historical novels, this makes you feel like you are living in the moment of the battle. The angles taken by the author are amazing. And since the author admirably left out as much political undertones as possible, we get a stark picture of what really happened.
Overall an incredibly gripping and emotional book.
The narrator whose voice at first didn't quite fit the story, grew on me. To the point that by the end of the book, I can't have imagined anyone else reading it. I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting a military or historical novel.

Wow

Great book!!! The story was well written and made me appreciate the military even more than before.

Great book about modern combat

Would you consider the audio edition of Black Hawk Down to be better than the print version?

I was only "satisfied" with the performance by the reader.

Did Alan Sklar do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

Mr Sklar did a reasonably good job but it was difficult differentiating some of the characters

If you could give Black Hawk Down a new subtitle, what would it be?

Leave no man behind

Good listen!

The performance was a bit too dramatic at points, but having the whole story told was very interesting and captivating.

Fuckin amazing

decent narrator but amazing a
story. one of my all time favorite books. worthwhile read

Great book but...

Performance is horrible. Had to stop. Wish I could get my $ back. Takes a deep breath before every sentence it seems.

Good book

Good book. Very well read. I quite enjoyed the telling through individual soldiers perspectives. At times it was hard to keep up with the multitude of stories that make the whole, but that was the nature of the battle.

Amazing!!!

A tough account to listen to, but well worth it. Alan Sklar does a phenomenal job narrating.

GRIPPING...

All true. Not like a movie more like a historical account.
It was more than one chopper, and many Spec Ops operators. The population was armed, like if a small town of 20,000 all had AK-47's. And came after invaders not expecting a fight.

The bully got bullied, maybe not accurate but astute.

it's a great audibook to listen too

it was fantastic to listen to this even though I actually own the book itself when doing chores and you want something to listen to it this is definitely one of the great stories to have going in your headphones