I picked up Mark Bowden's Blackhawk Down after seeing the stylistically superb movie by Ridley Scott. The movie sparked my curiosity about the incident, especially since the movie was sparing (and sometimes downright dishonest) about the background, history, and characters that led up to the disastrous Somali mission.

Unfortunately the book didn't do what I wanted it to do. Blackhawk Down is a mostly straightforward narrative of the events from the movie, with only a few brief hints about the longer history behind the soldiers' day in hell, and very little by way of background knowledge. Even the book's descriptions of the action--which was so viscerally portrayed in the movie--reached only halfheartedly toward a pulse-pounding rate, mostly because of the confusing welter of names, actions, and sensory verbiage that Bowden throws at you. I think it's telling that only two days after reading this short book, the only things I could remember were from the film.

Watch the movie. Ignore this book. And, if you're really interested, go pick up a more serious tome on Africa's troubled past.

Copyright © 2002 Steven Wu