Black Hawk Down chronicles the Battle of the Black Sea of October 3, 1993 in Mogadishu, Somalia. This is the book the Ridley Scott Black Hawk Down film is based on. As great as the movie is, Michael Bowden’s account goes much more in depth than a two-hour movie could. He explains what the U.S. was trying to do in Mogadishu, what they accomplished, and their history in the region up to that point. You get the story told from the Mogadishan point of view as well – how they viewed the Americans, how their relationship with the U.N. and the U.S. progressed, and why they fought.

As far as the battle itself, you get almost a minute-to-minute retelling of what went happened on October 3-4: what was done, what was said, who shot who, the what, the where, the why, the victories, the mistakes, and most of all, the bravery of the men who fought, were wounded, and who died in this fight.

Bowden also explained the whole writing process of the book, who he talked to, and what kind of access he had. It turns out he talked to a lot of people involved in the battle and had extensive access, as the book has incredible detail. It’s written like a novel, except everything actually happened.

My biggest question about the whole battle is how a city that is too poor to feed itself can be that heavily armed. Obviously, the U.S. military was not expecting that kind of a response from a populace as indigent as Mogadishu, and walked into a hornet’s nest. It was never explained how the people of Mogadishu had access to that many guns and RPGs.

It would be hard to call the Battle of the Black Sea a defeat for America since the U.S. overwhelmingly won the battle – but it would definitely be fair to say that the people of Mogadishu gave the Army Rangers much more than they were expecting. It’s an intense story. Black Hawk Down is a must-read for anyone interested in American military history.