

A lot of room for improvement
Excellent intro to sigma-delta and lots of practical advice

Recommended, but not fabulous
Okay, but not as funny/interesting as hoped for
Definitely worth the small price!

Overwrought and under-edited
Disappointed and dismayed(I read the book on a flight to the west coast, and the only reason I finished it was because I believe that John is a stand-up guy and because the in-flight magazine looked like it was chewed on by a rabid dog.)
Had potential, but...It might be worth it for those who play the Delta Green RPG to check this out as it has some cool ideas in it but for the casual Non-RPG player I wouldn't reccommend it.


THERE ARE NO POLAR BEARS IN ANTARTICA!
Some like it frozenMuch more fun are the people who do this (crossing Antarctica) using parachute (wind) pulled sleds, or even dog teams. But this book is something else. I get upset just looking at the pictures of the naked, emaciated author, close ups of necrotic tissue...YUK!
Intelligent, honest and interestingThere are absolutely no bears mentioned in it, and it is a pity that one reviewer felt the need to give it one star without ever having read it.


an awful rip-off
A Good, Solid, History of DELTAAgain, note the word "history." Some knock the book for not including up-to-the-minute current capabilities, weapons, photos, etc. Think about it, is this what you expect should be in a book on DELTA -- current capabilities and methods? Let's not make it too easy for the bad guys. Besides the book came out in the first-half of the 1990s, so photos run from the unit's beginnings through Desert Storm and the funerals afterwards.
As regards the photographs -- they are good, and there are plenty of them -- maybe over 150 or so color and black & white shots. A few previous reviewers don't like many of them -- they aren't pretty, they appear "out of date." But this is what separates the amateurs from the pros. Amateurs and buffs like the pretty shots, everyone nicely arranged for the camera. But that's not the reality of training in special forces. You don't dress up in pretty attire and pose for the photographer -- you use stealth, you charge hard, but you don't preen for the camera (and live to tell about it!). Besides, full-up battle gear is actually worn in less than 5% of the unit training, and depending on the mission, often not during active operations either.
This issue of photographs also begs the questions -- how are contemporary pictures in a work of history, "out of date?" Are Matthew Brady and Alexander Gardner's Civil War photographs "out of date?"
As for the scurrilous charge of plagiarism (tough to charge it when you can't spell it!). I have read Beckwith's book and can say that none, zero, zip, nada is plagiarized in this book. I would challenge the alleged "reviewer" to provide one instance of plagiarism. What makes such a charge absurd is the fact that Beckwith told a colleague (an SF LTC) that he liked this book. Would he like a book that plagiarizes him?? Hardly! I do recommend that one read Beckwith's book along with Black Hawk Down, but these don't replace reading Giangreco and Griswold's DELTA.
Of all the American special operations assets, DELTA is the one most shrouded in secrecy -- it's great to have a book by these coauthors that gives us historical insight into the unit.
Delta: America's Elite Counterterrorist Force

There's better science fiction out there
Best Book i ever read

Revisionist and Politically Correct
The Most Southern Place on Earth, The Mississippi Delta and

Red Herring
The ecological story of fighting for life

Delta Mind Dynamics

50s alien invasion funAt the time I'm writing this review, 'Delta' is the single Seventh Doctor story not released on video (due to happen real soon!). It is also the only Seventh Doctor story I haven't seen, so this book is the only way I've experienced this story.
And a little odd it is too - the enforced bonhomie of the holiday camp, the coldness of the Bannermen, American secret service agents, aliens from all over the universe and a strange old beekeeper all add up to a story which could have been better, but certainly could have been worse!
Malcolm Kohll's writing style is pretty straightforward, and the story is not terribly challenging, so it won't necessarily be the most memorable leave that you'll ever have.