Neither a chest-pounding exaltation of the military, nor a cynical denunciation of combat, Black Hawk Down is just a gripping story of a mission gone awry. Set in 1993, during the United States' short-lived intervention in Somalia, Bowden's book describes 24 harrowing hours in the lives (and deaths) of young Rangers, elite Delta Force "D boys," and veteran chopper pilots, all trying desperately to extricate themselves from Mogadishu's toughest neighborhood. Bowden's even-handed approach is perfectly suited to his story -- the details of combat speak louder than any writer's spin ever could.

Harold Check