In the Company of Heroes
Author: Michael J Durant
About the Author
Michael J. Durant retired from the army as a Chief Warrant Officer 4. In addition to participating in Operation Restore Hope in Somalia, he saw action in the Persian Gulf, Panama, and Kuwait. His awards include the Distinguished Service Medal, the Distinguished Flying Cross with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Bronze Star with Valor Device, the Purple Heart, the Meritorious Service Medal, three Air Medals, the POW/MIA ribbon, and the Army Commendation Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters.
Steven Hartov is a novelist and a respected authority on military matters. He served in the Israeli Defense Forces Airborne Brigades and a Special Operations branch of Military Intelligence, and is a regular contributor to Special Ops-The Journal of Elite Forces.
Publishers Weekly
The 1993 battle in Mogadishu between American soldiers and Somali militiamen gets a human-scale retelling in this jaunty but harrowing memoir. Durant went down with the Black Hawk he piloted; after a terrifying crash in which his back and leg were broken and a violent fire-fight, he was held captive for ten days by Somali militiamen as a pawn in their stand-off with American peacekeeping forces. Frightened and in agony from his wounds, he called on his survival training to help him endure, but he also relied on the empathy of some of his Somali captors, especially the gruff but sympathetic guard who feeds, bathes and bonds with him. Durant is a gung-ho army honcho, not much given to introspection, and the book often takes leave of the captivity narrative to recount his exploits in conflicts from Panama to Iraq, and to celebrate the bravado and leave-no-man-behind esprit-de-corps of his elite "Night Stalkers" helicopter unit. The writing is full of terse jargon, weapons specs, helicopter-assault procedural and special-ops swagger ("They were the kind of professionals who could pick off a rabbit from a roller-coaster with a BB gun"). But overall the story remains taut, and the prose evokes both the chaos of combat and the anxiety of confinement. Durant's perspective on the Somalia conflict is somewhat limited and jingoistic ("Mogadishu was Tombstone, and we were Wyatt Earp"), but his is a revealing portrait of the human face of war. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Library Journal
Black Hawk pilot Durant recalls his ordeal. Copyright 2003 Cahners Business Information.
School Library Journal
Adult/High School-A decade ago, Durant and his crew were shot down while flying a U.S. Army Special Operations Black Hawk helicopter in the heart of Mogadishu. The only survivor after a firefight with hostile forces of warlord Mohamed Farah Aidid, the author recounts the conditions of his 11 days in captivity, with experiences that ranged from heroic to gruesome, harrowing, bizarre, and compassionate. Suffering severe injuries to his back, leg, and face, moved under guard through a sequence of rudimentary facilities in a volatile combat environment, and facing the deadly risk of discovery by rival clans, Durant became a political pawn receiving global media attention. Readers of Mark Bowden's Black Hawk Down (Atlantic Monthly, 1999) who wished for a more technically detailed analysis of the mission's operational aspects will savor this account. The book also incorporates chapters on the arduous training required to earn a spot in an elite squadron and lays groundwork for appreciating the Mogadishu engagement by describing prior high-risk special operations in Korea, Panama, and Iraq in which Durant participated. Each episode resonates with the sense of bonding among combat brethren, and the professional esprit and conviction behind mottoes such as "NSDQ" (Night Stalkers Don't Quit), as exemplified by Durant's squadron mates who flew above the embattled city in the days after his shoot-down, broadcasting: "Mike Durant-. We will not leave without you." A dramatic narrative by a talented storyteller.-Lynn Nutwell, Fairfax City Regional Library, VA Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
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Against All Enemies: Inside America's War on Terror
Author: Richard A Clark
The one person who knows more about Usama bin Laden and al Qaeda than anyone else in this country, Richard Clarke has devoted two decades of his professional life to combating terrorism. Richard Clarke served seven presidents and worked inside the White House for George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush until he resigned in March 2003. He knows, better than anyone, the hidden successes and failures of the Clinton years. He knows, better than anyone, why we failed to prevent 9/11. He knows, better than anyone, how President Bush reacted to the attack and what happened behind the scenes in the days that followed. He knows whether or not Iraq presented a terrorist threat to the United States and whether there were hidden costs to the invasion of that country." Clarke was the nation's crisis manager on 9/11, running the Situation Room - a scene described here for the first time - and then watched in dismay at what followed. After ignoring existing plans to attack al Qaeda when he first took office, George Bush made disastrous decisions when he finally did pay attention. Coming from a man known as one of the hard-liners against terrorists, Against All Enemies is both a powerful history of our two-decades-long confrontation with terrorism and a searing indictment of the current administration.
The New York Times
The explosive details about President Bush's obsession with Iraq in the immediate aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks captured the headlines in the days after the book's release, but Against All Enemies offers more. It is a rarity among Washington-insider memoirs - it's a thumping good read.
The first - and by far the best - chapter is a heart-stopping account of the turmoil inside the White House on the morning of Sept. 11, when Washington suddenly came blinking into a bloody new world. I hope Clarke has sold the rights to Hollywood, at least for his opening chapter, because I would pay to see this movie. — James Risen
The Washington Post
… the bulk of the book seeks to fill in the considerable gaps in the White House record leading up to Sept. 11. Beginning with the Reagan administration's financial and military support of the mujaheddin who led the resistance to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, Clarke shows how Washington's military and intelligence sachems consistently underestimated the threat that a growing global network of Islamic extremists posed to America's interests and security … Washington will be abuzz for some time over Clarke's recollections of the president's orders. But the real indictments in Against All Enemies involve the long policy background to those frantically barked directives. — Chris Lehmann
(James Risen) - New York Times
The explosive details about President Bush's obsession with Iraq in the immediate aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks captured the headlines in the days after the book's release, but Against All Enemies offers more. It is a rarity among Washington-insider memoirs - it's a thumping good read.
The first - and by far the best - chapter is a heart-stopping account of the turmoil inside the White House on the morning of Sept. 11, when Washington suddenly came blinking into a bloody new world. I hope Clarke has sold the rights to Hollywood, at least for his opening chapter, because I would pay to see this movie.
(Chris Lehmann) - Washington Post
...the bulk of the book seeks to fill in the considerable gaps in the White House record leading up to Sept. 11. Beginning with the Reagan administration's financial and military support of the mujaheddin who led the resistance to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, Clarke shows how Washington's military and intelligence sachems consistently underestimated the threat that a growing global network of Islamic extremists posed to America's interests and security. Washington will be abuzz for some time over Clarke's recollections of the president's orders. But the real indictments in Against All Enemies involve the long policy background to those frantically barked directives.
Foreign Affairs
Clarke's book turned out to be one of the first shots in the gradual undermining of President Bush's reputation as a war leader-especially since many of Clarke's more damaging accusations have been corroborated elsewhere, including in the investigations undertaken by the 9/11 Commission. The opening sequence, as Clarke describes his efforts as "counterterrorism czar" to respond to the incoming news of the September 11 attacks, is gripping, and his description of the development of policy during the George H.W. Bush and Clinton administrations is useful, if unavoidably self-centered. The big story, of course, lies in his depiction of the current Bush administration's failing to take seriously the al Qaeda threat and then going off on its Iraq tangent.
Publishers Weekly
A few bars of heavy, ominous-sounding orchestral music set the tone for this incendiary account of the events that occurred inside the White House on 9/11 and the months and years prior to it. Former counterterrorism director Clarke starts out by describing how he took charge in the situation room on the day of the attacks and facilitated communication among the White House, the FBI and the FAA. The level of detail Clarke includes is impressive. Not only does he paint a vivid portrait of the White House in crisis mode, but he even recalls a number of conversations (including one in which Bush, after learning of al Qaeda's involvement, purportedly tells Clarke, "See if Saddam did this. See if he's linked in any way"). Whether one chooses to believe Clarke's version of events or not, this first chapter is riveting, and Clarke delivers it like a pro. With his deep tenor and weighty pauses, Clarke never lets listeners forget the gravity of the situation, but he isn't above making an attempt at the various accents and inflections of the major players. His frustration over how the current administration has responded to 9/11 and how he believes the FBI and CIA failed to act leaks through at times, but by the end of this compelling audiobook, many listeners may share it. Simultaneous release with the Free Press hardcover. (Mar.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
Publishers Weekly
A few bars of heavy, ominous-sounding orchestral music set the tone for this incendiary account of the events that occurred inside the White House on 9/11 and the months and years prior to it. Former counterterrorism director Clarke starts out by describing how he took charge in the situation room on the day of the attacks and facilitated communication among the White House, the FBI and the FAA. The level of detail Clarke includes is impressive. Not only does he paint a vivid portrait of the White House in crisis mode, but he even recalls a number of conversations (including one in which Bush, after learning of al Qaeda's involvement, purportedly tells Clarke, "See if Saddam did this. See if he's linked in any way"). Whether one chooses to believe Clarke's version of events or not, this first chapter is riveting, and Clarke delivers it like a pro. With his deep tenor and weighty pauses, Clarke never lets listeners forget the gravity of the situation, but he isn't above making an attempt at the various accents and inflections of the major players. His frustration over how the current administration has responded to 9/11 and how he believes the FBI and CIA failed to act leaks through at times, but by the end of this compelling audiobook, many listeners may share it. Simultaneous release with the Free Press hardcover. (Mar.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
Foreign Affairs
Clarke's book turned out to be one of the first shots in the gradual undermining of President Bush's reputation as a war leader-especially since many of Clarke's more damaging accusations have been corroborated elsewhere, including in the investigations undertaken by the 9/11 Commission. The opening sequence, as Clarke describes his efforts as "counterterrorism czar" to respond to the incoming news of the September 11 attacks, is gripping, and his description of the development of policy during the George H.W. Bush and Clinton administrations is useful, if unavoidably self-centered. The big story, of course, lies in his depiction of the current Bush administration's failing to take seriously the al Qaeda threat and then going off on its Iraq tangent.
Table of Contents:
| 1 | Evacuate the White House | 1 |
| 2 | Stumbling into the Islamic world | 35 |
| 3 | Unfinished mission, unintended consequences | 55 |
| 4 | Terror returns (1993-1996) | 73 |
| 5 | The almost war, 1996 | 101 |
| 6 | Al Qaeda revealed | 133 |
| 7 | Beginning homeland protection | 155 |
| 8 | Delenda est | 181 |
| 9 | Millennium alert | 205 |
| 10 | Before and after September 11 | 227 |
| 11 | Right war, wrong war | 247 |
| App. A | Excerpts from public testimony to the 9/11 commission, delivered by Richard Clarke on March 24, 2004 | 293 |
| App. B | Excerpts from the 9/11 commission report | 299 |
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