Black Hawk Down (book) facts for kids
First-edition cover
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| Author | Mark Bowden |
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| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Subject | Battle of Mogadishu (1993) |
| Genre | War Historical non-fiction |
| Publisher | Signet Books |
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Publication date
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February 10, 1999 |
| Media type | Hardcover Trade paperback |
| Pages | 320 |
| ISBN | 978-0-87113-738-8 |
Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War is a non-fiction book written by journalist Mark Bowden. It was published in 1999. The book tells the true story of a difficult battle in Somalia in 1993. This event is known as the Battle of Mogadishu.
The book focuses on a mission by United States forces. Their goal was to capture a powerful Somali leader named Mohamed Farrah Aidid. During this mission, two U.S. UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters were shot down. The book gets its name from these events. It also describes the brave efforts to rescue the helicopter crews. U.S. forces involved included Army Rangers, 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, 10th Mountain Division, Delta Force, and Navy SEALs. United Nations peacekeeping forces also played a role.
This battle became one of the most intense close-quarters fights in U.S. military history since the Vietnam War. The mission was officially called Operation Gothic Serpent. However, the news media often called it the Battle of Mogadishu. It was also sometimes known as the Battle of the Black Sea.
Contents
What is Black Hawk Down About?
Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War is based on a series of 29 articles. Journalist Mark Bowden wrote these articles for The Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper. To write the book, Bowden did a lot of research. He looked at U.S. Army records. He also interviewed soldiers and people from both sides of the conflict. He even reviewed videos from observation aircraft and recordings of radio conversations.
Before the book came out, Bowden's newspaper series was already getting a lot of attention. It included a CD-ROM, a video, and an online series. This was very new for a newspaper at the time.
How the Story Was Researched
A member of the Delta Force, Paul R. Howe, shared much information for the book. He told Bowden about the Delta Force operations. Bowden met with Howe in 1997 after getting permission from Howe's commander. Howe was one of the first soldiers to reach the scene of a downed Black Hawk helicopter. Other Delta Force members also helped Bowden. However, they did not allow their real names to be used in the book.
The History Behind the Battle
In January 1991, different groups in Somalia overthrew the government. The United Nations (UN) then organized an effort led by the U.S. The goal was to help build a new government. They also wanted to encourage the different groups to share power.
In December 1992, President George H. W. Bush sent U.S. Marines to Somalia. Their job was to protect routes for delivering food and supplies. Local groups had been stopping these deliveries.
Mohamed Farrah Aidid was not interested in sharing power. He began to see the UN mission as an enemy. In June 1993, his forces attacked a UN peacekeeping convoy. The UN commander, U.S. Admiral Jonathan Howe, declared Aidid an outlaw. After this, Aidid's forces began to target UN officers.
The search for Aidid led to some mistakes. There were many civilian casualties, meaning innocent people were hurt or killed. This made more civilians angry at the UN's efforts, especially their use of helicopters. After the Battle of Mogadishu, the hunt for Aidid was stopped. The U.S. military left Somalia, and the UN followed a few months later.
In 1996, Aidid died from injuries he got during a fight with a rival group. A new temporary government was formed in Somalia in 2000. This was one year after Bowden's book was published.
Other Versions of the Story
- The story first appeared as a 29-part newspaper series. This was on November 16, 1997. It was then turned into an online multimedia package. This was a first for the Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper. Mark Bowden had collected many notes, audio recordings, documents, photos, and radio transcripts. He worked with the newspaper's digital team to put it all online. At the time, it was a very new way for a news organization to tell a story. The online package included videos, audio clips, graphics, maps, and links to other information.
- A video was made to go with the book. It was called Somalia: Good Intentions, Deadly Results. KVR Video produced it. A 57-minute version aired on CNN on March 24, 1999. It was called Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War. This video won an Emmy.
- The book was also made into a movie in 2001. The film was directed by Ridley Scott and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer. It is called Black Hawk Down.
See also
In Spanish: Black Hawk Down (libro) para niños
