Enter your mobile number or email address below and we'll send you a link to download the free Kindle App. Then you can start reading Kindle books on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

  • Apple
  • Android
  • Windows Phone
  • Android

To get the free app, enter your email address or mobile phone number.
Download to your computer
Kindle Cloud Reader
Facebook Twitter Pinterest <Embed>
Qty:1
  • List Price: $18.99
  • Save: $5.04 (27%)
FREE Shipping on orders with at least $25 of books.
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.
Blackwater: The Rise of t... has been added to your Cart
Want it tomorrow, April 23? Order within and choose Saturday Delivery at checkout. Details
Ship to:
Select a shipping address:
To see addresses, please
or
Please enter a valid US zip code.
or
FREE Shipping on orders over $25.
Used: Acceptable | Details
Sold by Your Online Bookstore
Fulfilled by Amazon
Condition: Used: Acceptable
Comment: Unbeatable customer service, and we usually ship the same or next day. Over one million satisfied customers!

Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) is a service we offer sellers that lets them store their products in Amazon's fulfillment centers, and we directly pack, ship, and provide customer service for these products. Something we hope you'll especially enjoy: FBA items qualify for FREE Shipping and .

If you're a seller, Fulfillment by Amazon can help you increase your sales. We invite you to learn more about Fulfillment by Amazon .

Sorry, there was a problem.

There was an error retrieving your Wish Lists. Please try again.

Sorry, there was a problem.

List unavailable.
Have one to sell? Sell on Amazon
Flip to back Flip to front
Listen Playing... Paused   You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition.
Learn more
See all 2 images

Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army [Revised and Updated] Paperback – May 27, 2008

by
Jeremy Scahill (Author)
› Visit Amazon's Jeremy Scahill Page
Find all the books, read about the author, and more.
See search results for this author
Are you an author? Learn about Author Central
Jeremy Scahill (Author)
3.3 out of 5 stars 484 customer reviews
See all 17 formats and editions Hide other formats and editions
Price
New from Used from
Kindle
"Please retry"
$8.34
— —
Hardcover
"Please retry"
—
$3.34 $0.01
Paperback
"Please retry"
$13.95
$4.54 $0.01
MP3 CD, Audiobook, Unabridged
"Please retry"
$29.95
$15.95 $10.95
Top 20 lists in Books
Top 20 lists in Books
View the top 20 best sellers of all time, the most reviewed books of all time and some of our editors' favorite picks. Learn more
$13.95 FREE Shipping on orders with at least $25 of books. In Stock. Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.

Frequently Bought Together

  • Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army [Revised and Updated]
  • +
  • Dirty Wars: The World Is a Battlefield
Total price: $29.51
Buy the selected items together
NO_CONTENT_IN_FEATURE
China
Engineering & Transportation Books
Discover books for all types of engineers, auto enthusiasts, and much more. Learn more

Product Details

  • Paperback: 560 pages
  • Publisher: Nation Books; First Trade Paper Edition edition (May 27, 2008)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 156858394X
  • ISBN-13: 978-1568583945
  • Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 1.4 x 8.2 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (484 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #61,327 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Important Information

Ingredients
Example Ingredients

Directions
Example Directions

Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsAn unflinching serious work of journalism
By Julia K. on March 18, 2007
Format: Hardcover
I read this book in one night after hearing Mr. Scahill speak in Washington DC. The book is a remarkable and bracing wake up call about the privatization of war and how that subverts even basic notions of democracy. I find it remarkable that people criticize Mr. Scahill for using terms like "radical Christian right" - as if these terms are caricatures and ad hominem attacks. Hardly. In fact Schaill then spends hundreds of pages breaking down exactly what is so "radical Christian right" about Blackwater. He is a serious journalist who has uncovered a story that is both illuminating and frightening. It's hard to have any respect for people who say "I didn't even get to the first page" and then feel like they can write a review on its content.

Last point: As good a writer as Scahill is, he's a better public speaker. People should go hear what he has to say. These aren't easy truths to consume, but they are truths that define and explain the current calamaties unleashed on the world
28 Comments 678 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
Report abuse
5.0 out of 5 starsA meticulously documented expose
By Alan B. Maass on March 1, 2007
Format: Hardcover
Don't believe the reviews on this page smearing this book. Jeremy Scahill has written a meticulously documented book about an all-too-real threat to democracy. And not just in war zones, where Blackwater operates in concert with U.S. forces, but without the accountability, however flawed, of the official military. They appeared, as Scahill documents, on the streets of New Orleans and around the Gulf Coast as a security force. This was in a situation where what was desperately needed was more humanitarian operations--food, rescue, emergency housing. But the Bush administration decided to devote funds to their colleagues from the war zone. Scahill exposes all of this, based on his own eyewitness reporting and on a meticulous analysis of Blackwater's history and operations.

By the way, I'm a reporter and editor who has found Scahill's articles extremely valuable, and in any of my following and checking of his stories, I've never found a single point that didn't hold up. The reviewers here may not like the facts he presents, but they are facts.
19 Comments 578 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
Report abuse
5.0 out of 5 starsSo many one-star reviews for a very good book.....
By Loribee VINE VOICE on March 25, 2007
Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase
I almost didn't buy this book because of the poor reviews (many written almost before the book came out, I must add), but decided to purchase it anyway, and I'm glad I did. It is well-written, thoroughly researched, and it is an expose of a company that every American should be aware of. I highly recommend it.

Blackwater scares me. One of the blurbs on the back of the jacket says they are just like Saddam's Republican Guard, and while I disagree with that, if they continue on the road they're on, it could happen.

They are fighting our wars, lobbying for fighting other wars, and for "peacekeeping" (something they're not very good at) missions in places we have not yet interceded. They were first-responders in Katrina, bringing guns and ammo, not supplies, for desperate people.

The scariest part is that they can kill with impunity, and I'm quite sure they do. It is also difficult to tell where the government ends and Blackwater begins, as people travel back and forth from high-level government positions to high-level Blackwater positions.

There is no accurate record of how much money Blackwater is actually making in our military conflicts, but through the maze of contractors, sub-contractors, sub-sub, etc., it is very difficult to imagine they are saving the government money as they claim.

The lack of oversight is the most frightening. No one seems to know what they are REALLY doing in Iraq or Afghanistan. If we are going to be outsourcing our wars, there needs to be oversight and accountability.
15 Comments 401 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
Report abuse
3.0 out of 5 starsImportant, if flawed, contribution to the debate
By Andrew E. Cox on September 4, 2007
Format: Hardcover
Jeremy Scahill's "Blackwater" is a passionate, if one-sided, condemnation of Blackwater USA, the military contractor firm located in rural North Carolina. "Blackwater" is the latest in a long line of books condemning the Bush administration's (mis)management of Iraq War. Scahill's book begins with a recounting of the infamous lynching of four Blackwater contractors in Fallujah in 2004 and works through the company's various exploits since the invasion Iraq. The book's purpose is use the birth and evolution of Blackwater to call attention to the broader trend towards privatization of traditionally military functions. Scahill is effective in impressing upon the reader the value of Washington connections in winning Federal contracts and he focuses heavily on the lack of accountability applied to private military contractors---mercenaries--during the last several years of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts.

Blackwater is less an analysis of policy than a revealing piece of journalism serving as an ideological appeal for readers to oppose privatization of military functions. Just as Scahill rightly points out the weight that ideological rather than practical considerations have carried in the Iraq war's prosecution, it is important to understand the Scahill's ideological background as well. Scahill cut his teeth with leftist journalist Amy Goodman whom the LA Times referred to as "radio's voice of the disenfranchised left" ([...] In addition, Scahill mentions various independent journalism outfits in the acknowledgement section of the book. One example, the Z-magazine website which hosts a "subsite devoted to the anti-corporate globalization movement" is representative of the progressive political perspective that Scahill has adopted.Read more ›
12 Comments 145 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
Report abuse

Most Recent Customer Reviews

1.0 out of 5 starsbut was greatly disappointed. The laws that we created limiting the...

I was hoping for an even handed account, but was greatly disappointed. The laws that we created limiting the role of our military were largely responsible for the creation of... Read more

Published 28 days ago by HS of the Big Horns
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

Hmmmm makes one wonder??

Published 1 month ago by Amazon Customer
4.0 out of 5 starsFour Stars

Fantastic read

Published 1 month ago by Amazon Customer
1.0 out of 5 starsOne side view of Blackwater. This book is written ...

One side view of Blackwater. This book is written too much on the authors opinion and little on facts.

Published 1 month ago by Jason Isaacson
5.0 out of 5 starsI could not put it down. Very informative.

This book is worth a read.

Published 2 months ago by Stephen Murray w/ Murray Total Fitness
5.0 out of 5 starsAmazing Book

This was a wonderful book. An overwhelming amount of relevant detail, which results in a connection of the dots. Read more

Published 2 months ago by Jeremy Grimm
5.0 out of 5 starsJust a Little Bit Creepy

I'm eighty pages from the end of this book and I don't even care how it will end. The ride has been worth the time. That's how good it is. Read more

Published 2 months ago by Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars... that chronicles the rise evolving into permanence of the best...

A very well researched and documented book that chronicles the rise evolving into permanence of the best soldiers money can buy. For such detailed material it is an easy read. Read more

Published 3 months ago by Rand M.
5.0 out of 5 starsmust read

excellent read very informative

Published 3 months ago by Jah Speed
4.0 out of 5 starsFour Stars

AS ADVERTIZED

Published 3 months ago by Thomas W Lalor

Set up an Amazon Giveaway

Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army [Revised and Updated]
Amazon Giveaway allows you to run promotional giveaways in order to create buzz, reward your audience, and attract new followers and customers. Learn more
This item: Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army [Revised and Updated]
Set up a giveaway

There's a problem loading this menu right now.

Learn more about Amazon Prime.