RATING: 8 out of 10.
VERDICT: A compelling and highly recommended true tale of modern-day military conflict.

Mark Bowden’s astonishing account of the US military’s ill-fated mission to capture two of warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid’s deputies from Mogadishu in 1993 is a horrifying but compelling read, made all the more terrifying by the fact that it is a true story. What should have been a simple one-hour operation turns into every soldier’s nightmare as first one MH-60 helicopter (the Black Hawk of the title) is downed in the heart of the hostile African city, followed swiftly by a second. In no time at all, members of the US Rangers and the elite Delta Force troops find themselves under siege in foreign territory, engaged in a battle which results in 19 dead Americans and countless more wounded. Not surprisingly, the Somali body count is much, much worse.

Bowden’s superb research and attention to detail is aided by an almost cinematic narrative style that places the reader right in the centre of the action as both sides engage in the bloodiest of battles. As the Americans suffer one unbelievable organisational screw-up after another (the whole sorry affair eventually led to the resignation of Secretary of Defence, Les Aspin and a total withdrawal of troops from Somalia), the Somalis take advantage with absolute fearlessness making up for what they lack in arms and technology as the battle escalates into a state of near-insanity, with women, children and animals being mown down in the crossfire. The jaw-dropping incompetence of certain elements of the US forces is counterbalanced, and at times outweighed, by the outstanding courage of the men on the ground, most of whom are fighting purely to save the lives of a handful of their colleagues and friends. The passages detailing the injuries (and, inevitably, the deaths) sustained are among the most gruelling and gruesome pieces of writing you are ever likely to read. Even for those not particularly interested in military non-fiction, "Black Hawk Down" is a riveting page-turner of a book and a strongly-recommended read for anybody intending to see Ridley Scott’s movie adaptation of this incredible and ultimately tragic story.