Charlie A. Beckwith (1929–1994)

well, it's clearly a biased book by the creator of Delta Force but it still was interesting as can be - strip out the history of Delta Force and you'll get a great story of how , little by little, a new full out agency of the military was created. Of course, you have to deal with Beckwith's ego and choice words but, whatever, great book anyways. For history buffs, and also war buffs, but mostly history buffs.

A plus, you get to see the entire Desert One tragedy as just a minor glitch - oh well, sh@# happens, what a unique view!… (mehr)

Beckwith details the inception of Delta in Vietnam, working with the British SAS, followed by the causes of the failed Iranian hostage rescue attempt. Focused and interesting for those inclined to relish random observations about US military and political personalities (eg. H. Moore, President J. Carter). Excellent detached self-evaluation of his own shortcomings in Operation Eagle Claw. A very rare self-critique by an actual personage involved some of the most ambitious of US military operations. The book ends with the creation of Special Operations Command. I was amazed by Beckwith's honesty in revealing his worst nightmare imaginable; hostage loaded helicopters colliding in the Tehran soccer stadium. Glossary, Maps, Index, 8 pages of B/W photos.… (mehr)