Special warfare was a key component of American military operations long before Afghanistan and even before the heroic deeds of the Green Berets. Alfred Paddock's revised edition of his classic study--for two decades the definitive word on the subject--honors the fiftieth anniversary of the organizations responsible for Army special warfare, and serves as a timely reminder of the likely role such forces can play in combating threats to American national security.

Based on exhaustive research in formerly classified documents, Paddock examines the U.S. Army's activities in psychological and...