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Description of  Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War

If Black Hawk Down was not nonfiction, I wouldn't have believed it. The heroic tale of a group of just over 100 U.S. Rangers, DELTA operators, and SEALs in the 15+ hour non-stop battle of their lives to survive against thousands of aggressive,armed Somali militia should be near impossible for anyone to put down who has an interest in military history. However, the main strength of the book is delivered by the author Mark Bowden himself. As an investigative reporter, he takes pains not to play the role of a Monday morning armchair quarterback, and as a result simply reports the facts surrounding the October 3-4, 1993 "Battle of the Black Sea" in Mogadishu. Throughout the book, I began seeking the military commanders or politicians who should be "blamed" for this mission gone so bad. Bowden doesn't provide the answers, but instead lets the reader come to his or her own conclusions. His research of first hand source material, documentation of his sources, and reliance on only first hand interviews is first rate and qualifies this book as an excellent work of History, not merely a piece of investigative journalism.