If you are at all interested in the military, insignias, secret projects, or just good conversational pieces, buy this book. Then take it for what it's intended. The author doesn't promise a comprehensive or even consistent summary of military patches or black ops; he's picked some of the more interesting emblems and thrown a few program tidbits in where he could. It's surface level insight into the secret world of black ops, and if we all knew about it, it wouldn't be very secret or black, would it? The photos are great, the back stories are interesting, and we enjoyed it so much I'm buying more as gifts for my the history/military buffs in my family (i.e., all the guys.)

Although some of the patches are visually interesting, the book reveals no secrets. A quirky disappoint that has gotten a lot of press.

I'm not entirely sure what I expected with this book, but whatever it was it's not what I got. There's a short introduction about the world of black-ops, and from there we move into the structure that takes us through the rest of the book: an image of an emblem from the 'black' world, and some text outlining what we (the outside world) know about it. Usually, that's not very much.

The emblems themselves are often teenage in tone - they feature wizards and lightning bolts and basic Latin, and it's not hard to see them springing from the imagination of an adolescent military-crazed boy. That's a bit hard to reconcile with the world of extraordinary rendition and Guantanamo Bay, but the book itself casts no judgment on the morality of the world it seeks to represent.

In the end, all we get are questions. Some of the explanatory texts state that we know nothing about the emblems represented, others are open about the fact that they are purely speculative. It's a fascinating look into an other-world or under-world existing beside our own, and the only difference between it and the imaginings of speculative authors is that this one is real.

It's a quaint little book that sparks the imagination. Coffee table literature at its best. I wish they had more books like this in doctor's offices or at the DMV.

Not a ton of content, but still fun.

What a great book and collection this is!! It's started me looking for more information regarding "Black Book" information. I really suggest checking this product out. Well worth the money.

This is an essential book for every American to own. We need every volume, and then some to keep an eye on the spending and the work of the Black Ops that is done in the name of American interests.

Paglen has done an amazing amount of homework to bring you this book, and it is a fun read. You will want to use it as a possible coffee table conversation piece; we really should be having these conversations, America.

Interesting and to my knowledge, a unique book.
Three quibbles: 1). There is a printer flaw on p 47; the publishers forgot to trim
the page margin, 2). There is a typo on p. 111; that should read,
"Aeneas", not "Apollo". Also, Aeneas did not arrive at the Temple of
Apollo; he arrived at the Sybil cave where Apollo was spurring the
Sybil to give Aeneis necessary guidance in his pending quest for his father in the Underworld. The translation of the patch's Latin phrase is inaccurate as was the cited context in which it was made.
In fact, the statement was made by the Sybil
after Aeneis completed his quest for the golden bough (that totem
would allow him to enter the Underworld). Aeneas presented the bough to
the Sybil and was thereupon guided below. On arrival at the River Styx, Aeneis
and the Sybil were approached by mobs of spirits. It was at that
point that the Sybil utters, "Away, away! all you unhallowed ones..."
(6:297-8), according to the Robert Fagles translation, and, 3). The alleged complaint by Lucas Films regarding appropriation of a Star Wars fighter is a bit hard to fathom: if these units are so infernally secret, how did this come to the attention of the legal department of a major film studio?

A most enjoyable read. thought provoking and visually unusual. all photos are high quality and descriptions of units/operations are well researched. i am sure even US generals have learned something from the patches described in this book. i can only guess the cover patch refers to the Lost in Space TV series. It sure looks like the Jupiter II.

A most enjoyable read. thought provoking and visually unusual. all photos are high quality and descriptions of units/operations are well researched. i am sure even US generals have learned something from the patches described in this book. i can only guess the cover patch refers to the Lost in Space TV series. It sure looks like the Jupiter II.

This book became irresistible on April Fools Day, when a large, well illustrated article about it appeared in the New York Times ("Inside the Black Budget" by William J. Broad). The book came in the mail today. It is very good.

Folks who are interested in the subject might really like it, but, as the spread in the Times indicates, there is a general audience also for a look behind the green door if the presentation is accessible. In the case of this modest book, it is small in size and just right in length. The author, Trevor Paglen, states that this book is not intended to be a reference for historians and with that important caveat, I recommend it highly.

Mr. Paglen, a candidate for a PhD in geography at UC Berkeley, treats the subject with respect and seems to have enjoyed himself, as do the patch designers and the people who approved those designs.

His next book (and his thesis), says the Times, is about secret bases and "undisclosed locations" in the US and is called "Blank Spots on a Map". It will be be published by Dutton next year. While you're waiting, have a look at Top Secret Tourism: Your Travel Guide to Germ Warfare Laboratories, Clandestine Aircraft Bases and Other Places in the United States You're Not Supposed to Know About by Harry Helms, which is also recommended.

I would agree with the author that this book is not complete. It is an excellent primer for a layman or even the experienced collector to learn the nuances of insignia design. Some of this is directly related to heraldry-or put another way, taken from the lineage of the patch or related to the mission of the unit it represents. In these cases, there is more information about areas 51 and 52, and at least some idea of their purposes. I was able to use the information in the book to give me an idea of what units might have worn patches I had thusfar been unable to identify. Thanks for writing it and I hope there are some followup volumes as more is learned.

as always very excellent product arrived on time and was just what it was said it would be.

This book is definitely on a par with William Cooper's Behold a Pale Horse. That these projects exist is chilling, that Paglen was actually able to get a hold of these patches is amazing. This book is a definite must-have must-read for those interested in knowing more about the government behind the government.

The book was very good...I passed it around work....to a few men that had been in the service(wwII)....they enjoyed it as much as I did.

Interesting book, layout was 5stars and material interesting,
but was very limited, as a collector there are hundreds more
that were not shown, but cost to publish apparently the problem
would like Trevor to continue with this book in a series, and
not let it drop here,I bought 2 copies one to use and one for
my collection, would like to have it signed but will try later.
only 3 stars due to the limited content. Vic Henry [...]

It's time for ALL corruption to be exposed. The Alien HOAX (Area 51-cover story for advanced technology AND abductions for mind control) has been a big expense for the American taxpayers. NO MORE SECRETS. NO MORE TORTURE -Does truth come out during torture? No, anything will be said to stop the torturer. Duh!
NO MORE WASTE of our money (taxes) for secret, corrupt occult crap like the MKUltra mind control CIA project exposed by Senator Church in a Congressional Hearing in 1979 and still going on today. Bush/Cheney's bilked us enough with Iraq war/Haliburton, etc.
So this book is of great value - one step closer to truth exposing corruption.

Nicely done; a great coffee table piece. "Patches" reveal a huge amount of information... so this was fun to read through.

Written by one of the co-authors of Torture Taxi (on the practice of extraordinary rendition), this strange little book might seem fun and slightly ridiculous with its tactile cover and small size, yet it is also fascinating and frightening, because it hints at the deadly serious operations and undertakings of a vast, top-secret military infrastructure - our own.

Paglen has tracked down and documented the badges/symbols that the Pentagon creates for its classified "black budget" programs. They represent a strange cornucopia of projects with peculiar names and unknown purposes. Their operatives collect and display these badges, behaving like a bizarre cross between Boy Scouts and gang members.

When I first saw this book being offered to pre-order, I signed up immediately. I had read his previous book "Terror Taxi" about the U.S. Government's clandestine rendering program for terrorists and found it to be fascinating. I also am an enthusiast and fan of a lot of the U.S. military's aerospace "black projects"-especially black aircraft develpoment. I'm also into the patch insignia that a lot of these military organzations/units use to indirectly show the project they represent or support.

I think he has done a great job of research and packaging this project- from the cool patch emblazoned on the cover to the color pictures of each
patch described in the inside. A lot of effort went into this cool book!

Very tasty reading if you enjoy that sort of thing-which I do!