I Could Tell You But Then You Would Have to Be Destroyed By Me: Emblems from the Pentagon's Black World

by Trevor Paglen

Book Overview

The critically acclaimed study of the dark side of the US military returns in paperback, featuring 70 military shoulder patches to reveal a secret world of military imagery and jargon, where... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 193555414X
• ISBN13: 9781935554141
• Release Date: October 2010
• Publisher: Melville House
• Length: 160 Pages
• Weight: 0.68 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.3" x 0.5" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

I could rate this book but then I would have to disintegrate you

This was an interesting and fun book to read and share with my friends. It's probably not for the serious researcher of secret government programs, but for the rest of us I think the author has given a glimpse into a hidden world. I feel Trevor Paglen sums it up best in this disclaimer excerpt from the book: "Instead, readers of this book will find a collection of images that are fragmentary, torn out of context, inconclusive, enigmatic, unreliable, quixotic, and deceptive. Readers will find, in other words, a glimpse into the black world itself." Now don't take his words in a negative light. After reading this book and the detailed explanations of the pictures of patches included I don't think I will ever look at a patch in a simple, dismissive way again.

Amusing and entertaining little book

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.)

in patchspeak 5 + 1 stars means based at area 51

This book became irresistible when a large, well-illustrated article about it appeared in the New York Times ("Inside the Black Budget" by William J. Broad) on April 1. 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. It is called Blank Spots on the Map: The Dark Geography of the Pentagon's Secret World and will be published by Dutton next February (2009). 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 have collected Militrary insignia for about 60 years.

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.

Worth reading for all fans of black aircraft projects..

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!