US Navy SEALs (Elite) [Paperback]

Mir Bahmanyar (Author), Michael Welply (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 10, 2005 | Series: Elite (Book 113)

After the United States' failures in special operations missions during the late 1970s and 1980, a decision was made to revamp its unconventional military capabilities. The subsequent reorganization and redesignation in 1983 created the SEALs as they are known today, and later the all-encompassing command for US special operations forces under which they operate. Since then, these Navy Special Warfare (NSW) forces have operated in Grenada, the Persian Gulf, Panama, Somalia, Bosnia, Haiti, and Liberia. NSW units have also participated in the ongoing missions of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and Operation Iraqi Freedom in Iraq. This book looks at the history, organization, training, uniforms, equipment and missions of the US Navy SEALs since their redesignation until the recent conflict in the Gulf.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

An unrivalled illustrated reference source on fighting men and commanders, past and present. Each volume is packed with full colour artwork, making military history uniquely accessible to enthusiasts of all ages.

About the Author

Mir Bahmanyar served in the US Army from 1986-89. He received his BA in History from the University of California at Berkeley. Currently, he resides in Los Angeles where he is an independent producer and writer.

Product Details

• Paperback: 64 pages
• Publisher: Osprey Publishing (August 10, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1841768073
• ISBN-13: 978-1841768076
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 0.2 x 9.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,634,601 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing Effort By Osprey, September 3, 2005

By 

Stuart M. Kohn (Maplewood, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: US Navy SEALs (Elite) (Paperback)

I was quite anxious to get this book as it's publication date was repeatedly pushed back since it's origianl publication date almost a year ago. What I finally got was very disappointing. Osprey and the author have done much better in the past, but stay away from this one. The cover of the book pretty much sums it up -- the title is US NAVY SEALS, but there is not a SEAL in sight on the cover. The section of the book descriping the naval spec ops community looks like it was cut and pasted verbatim from Specialoperations.com circa 1999. It spends alot of time descrbing the SEALS as there were a few years ago, but glances over the major changes that have occurred in the community recently and how they are currently structured and operate today. The artwork is poor and lacks the crispness and realism of other Osprey titles. There is nothing in it that has not been presented much better elsewhere. Wanna learn about the SEALS? Read Dick Couch's books. The Navy SEALS and the navy's Special Operations community deserves a better effort from Osprey, I hope that they give it another go.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great single-volume introduction to the Navy SEALs, December 2, 2008

By 

John T. T. Intera (Union, NJ) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: US Navy SEALs (Elite) (Paperback)

Osprey's Elite series is an outgrowth of it's earlier Men-at-Arms series. I think it was originally conceived as a way to cover some of the world's special military forces like the British Paras or the Texas Rangers. Although the series has veered off into other topics like tactics in recent years, this volume from Mir Bahmanyar brings it back to its original goal of covering special ops. It's not as comprehensive as information you'll find in longer books--or even Bahmanyar's new book on the SEALs, which is awesome--but it has lots of great photos and the illustrations are informative, if somewhat below Osprey's usual high standard.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Amateur, Poorly-Written Effort, September 25, 2006

By 

David Gideon "D Gideon" (Jacksonville, NC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: US Navy SEALs (Elite) (Paperback)

This book smacks of an author attempting to rush a book into publication for the sake of having his name on the cover. The books provides absolutely no new, insightful information on the SEALs and seems to simply regurgitate information from other sources. The most telling thing about the book is the reference sources include the author's other books and personal web site devoted to the history of Army Rangers.