Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War is a book by Mark Bowden chronicling the U.S. military attempt in 1993 to capture officials of Mohamed Farrah Aidid's militia, in Mogadishu, Somalia, and the intense battle that resulted between U.S. forces on duty with the United Nations against local militia and citizens. The book gets its name from the type of helicopter used during the raids, the UH-60 Black Hawk.

The raid quickly became the most intensive close combat Americans had engaged in since the Vietnam War. The events of the raid were later renamed the Battle of Mogadishu by international media, as opposed to the operation name, Operation Gothic Serpent.

The book is fairly distinctive in its style; Bowden is not a historian, but a journalist, and as such, writes his account of the battle as a narrative, rather like a fiction novel. Though organized like a novel, the book is drawn from actual events. Bowden's sources included extensive research, interviews with participants from both sides of the conflicts, footage recorded by observation aircraft, and recordings of radio traffic.

The book is based on a series of articles written by Bowden for The Philadelphia Inquirer. In 2001 a film adaptation directed by Ridley Scott was released.

References

• Bowden, Mark (March 1999). Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War. Atlantic Monthly Press. Berkeley, California (USA). ISBN 0-87113-738-0

See also

• The Battle of Mogadishu by Matt Eversmann
• In the Company of Heroes by Mike Durant

External links

• Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War

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