Review (PDF) I Could Tell You But Then You Would Have To Be Destroyed By Me: Emblems From The Pentagon's Black World
Updated with New Information and Additional Patches They’re on the shoulders of all military personnel: patches showing what a soldier’s unit does. But what if that’s top secret? “A glimpse of [the Pentagon’s] dark world through a revealing lens—patches—the kind worn on military uniforms. . . The book offers not only clues into the nature of the secret programs, but also a glimpse of zealous male bonding among the presumed elite of the military-industrial complex. The patches often feel like fraternity pranks gone ballistic.” —William Broad, The New York Times I COULD TELL YOU. . . is a bestselling collection of more than seventy military patches representing secret government projects. Here author/photographer/investigator Trevor Paglen explores classified weapons projects and intelligence operations by scrutinizing their own imagery and jargon, disclosing new facts about important military units, which are here known by peculiar names (“Goat Suckers,” “Grim Reapers,” “Tastes Like Chicken”) and illustrated with occult symbols and ridiculous cartoons. The precisely photographed patches—worn by military personnel working on classified missions, such as those at the legendary Area 51—reveal much about a strange and eerie world about which little was previously known. “A fresh approach to secret government.” —Steven Aftergood, The Federation of American Scientists “An impressive collection.” —Justin Rood, ABC News “A fascinating set of shoulder patches.” —Stephen Colbert, The Colbert Report “I was fascinated... [Paglen] has assembled about 40 colorful patch insignia from secret, military ‘black’ programs that are hardly ever discussed in public. He has plenty of regalia from the real denizens of Area 51.” —Alex Beam, The Boston Globe
Paperback: 160 pages
Publisher: Melville House (October 25, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 193555414X
ISBN-13: 978-1935554141
Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.5 x 7.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (85 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #266,339 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #21 in Books > History > Military > Uniforms #71 in Books > History > Military > Life & Institutions #412 in Books > History > Military > Intelligence & Espionage
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 eachpatch 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!
This is a truly unique book. You know this, to start, when you see that the cover has an actual embroidered patch embedded in it. The inscription around it, which forms the title of the book, is actually a translation of a Latin inscription on one of the patches in the book, strangely worded and of course rather obscure. When you open the book, you discover that the majority of what's here is a series of patches, all from the Air Force, that personnel involved in various "black" (secret) operations have worn on duty. The author bills himself an expert in this sort of thing, and he does seem to have some expertise. It's hard to know how much, though, because of course the Air Force won't confirm much of what he writes.This is an interesting little book for the buff interested in this sort of thing. I would expect pretty much everyone else to be momentarily interested, then bored.
I found myself gaping as I read this book, by turns astonished that classified personnel could get away with having a sense of humor on the job and cackling madly at the inside jokes. There appears to be a rich language of symbolism in the patches' patterns, and many an afternoon could be whiled away by the reader attempting to piece it together. I've already recommended this book to several friends, and I can't recommend it highly enough to anyone curious about military heraldry or black projects.
I worked as a military subcontractor with Boeing on a weapons project when I first saw a strange patch. It was a flaming skull with the words "death from above" on it. It pretty much summed up the project, but it seemed very occultish and strange.It was my first taste of the weird death culture the military has and how they are not ashamed of displaying it publicly.I heard an interview with this author and the few patches on the cover, along with the odd title made me buy the book.It's nice and I don't regret buying it, but in my opinion, it's very limited in scope, mostly focusing on Area 51 and electronic warfare patches. There are so many other bizarre patches he could have included but didn't.
I really liked the info and the presentation. It seems like the book is a little small for the money, but i still really enjoyed reading it. I deducted only 1 star because the book seems like a short read, and it would have been nice to have some more backstory on a few of the patches, and related topics. There are a few photographs of airfields, and bases, but a little more info on the bases, programs, aircraft, or meaning of the military/intelligence organizations would have been useful and helped explain context.Also, in probably a minor unrelated point, the cover of the book was a bit mangled when i received it, but didn't feel the need to waste time/money returning it. just needs to be more careful packing small odd shaped books when in combined order shipping.
What a great book! If you are a conspiracy nut, military historian, believe in aliens, collect military artifacts, are into aviation, or any of the above, this may be a really fun book for you!This is not a dense or didactic book, but rather, it is a picture book with a paragraph or two about each entry. A good supplement to a more serious collection, or a unique coffee table book.
This is a nicely bound book with a patch embedded into the front cover. On the inside, it's mostly pictures with light commentary, so it's mostly a one-time read with little reference potential. The content is mostly speculative, and the patches aren't organized by symbology. I would have liked to see some patches from less secretive units using the same symbology for comparison.It's a nice conversation starter, though.
Some excellent photography of very cool patches.The book is short, but it is crisp and provocative. It would make a very cool coffee-table book, even though it is pretty small for that purpose. I enjoyed the little glimpse into the "black ops" world and found some of the designs very beautiful and dense with meaning.
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