Day of the Rangers

The Battle of Mogadishu 25 Years On

By: Leigh Neville, Matt Eversmann - foreword

Narrated by: Joe Barrett

Length: 11 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's summary

On October 3, 1993, Task Force Ranger was dispatched to seize two high-profile lieutenants of a Somali warlord. Special Forces troops were transported by ground vehicles and helicopters, and the mission was meant to be over within the hour. They quickly found themselves under heavy fire, and two Black Hawk helicopters were shot down. With a hastily organized relief column many hours away, the American troops faced a desperate battle for survival.

Focusing on the stories of the soldiers on the ground and in the air, Day of the Rangers reveals the experiences and recollections of the Special Forces units, including the Rangers, Delta operators, and Nightstalker crews who fought in the battle of Mogadishu.

Published to mark the battle's 25th anniversary and using recently declassified documents and new interviews with many of the participants, Day of the Rangers is a fascinating and revealing new history of a battle that would influence American Special Forces for decades to come.

©2018 Leigh Neville (P)2018 Tantor

Fantastic and informative

Worth listening to in order to get a better informed looked Into what happened and what those men went through

good book

I was always curious how Mister Bowden's book would stand up to a firsthand account. now I know. thanks Matt.

Awesome account

Awesome and hyper accurate first hand accout of the battle of Mogadishu. This was the battle the influenced and change a significant number of strategic and tactical procedures for US SOF. Would highly recommend for anyone wanting to know what really happened that day.

Great Book

Great detail and explanation of the lead-up to and the events of October 3rd and 4th as well as the aftermath and lessons learned. I thought it was well-written and with the amount of time that’s passed the author was able to talk to more now-retired participants and build a more accurate and complete picture than Bowden did. I wish there was a way to see any maps and images from the book.

My only complaints are about the narrator. I found his Gen Garrison and Somali accents to be bad and distracting and his normal voice generally grating. Also found the fact that he didn’t take the tiny amount of time it would’ve taken to learn how to correctly pronounce basic military acronyms that are frequently used throughout the book such as JOC and NODs really annoying.

Great on details, but the performance...

If the event is of interest to you, you can't NOT read/listen to the book, but I could not groove to the narration at all. The voice, tone and sometimes tempo just don't sync with what was going on. At least not in my mind. Otherwise a great accounting of the Battle of Mogadishu.

Better than Blackhawk Down.

Better than Blackhawk down. Tons of information and first hand accounts. Very well written and performed. Joe B isn’t one of the best narrators but did well.

Fantastic engaging, and in depth look into the Battle of Mogadishu! Must Read!!!

This is a fantastic book that goes into great detail about every aspect of the Battle of Mogadishu (Black Hawk Down). There’s so much information from so many primary sources and also talks about the differences between the BHD movie, the BHD book, and what really happened on October 3rd and 4th, 1993. It’s absolutely addicting to listen to! RIP to the fallen Task Force Ranger men!

Wow. Great story

The story told fills in many details about that fateful mission as told by members of Task Force Ranger that were not heard from in the "Black Hawk Down" book. It It's great to know that my old unit, the 10th Mountain Div., fought bravely and were not incompetent as depicted in the movie.

recommend

Great listen. Great info. I have read 3 separate books on the Oct 3 raid by TF Ranger and this was a good complement.
I would have preferred a reader more familiar with military terms.
I understand Jocko can't read every book.

Sad, but compelling ~

Great listen. strange to hear that from all that was learned (tactics, equipment, etc), our military never seems to learn. or flat out ignores our history by repeating similar mistakes.