A New York Times Notable Book of the YearA Main Selection of the Military History Book ClubA Featured Alternate of the Literary Guild An Independent BooksellerA National Book Award FinalistDestined to become a classic of war reporting, this is a brilliant account of the longest sustained firefight involving American troops since the Vietnam War. On October 3, 1993, about a hundred U.S. soldiers were dropped by helicopter into a teeming market in the heart of Mogadishu, Somalia, to abduct two top lieutenants of a Somali warlord. The action was supposed to take an hour. Instead, they spent a long and terrible night fighting thousands of armed Somalis. By morning, eighteen Americans were dead, and more than seventy badly injured. Mark Bowdenrs"s gripping narrative is one of the most exciting accounts of modern war ever written-a riveting story that captures the heroism, courage, and brutality of battle.
