The exact analytical solution of buckling in beams with multiple delaminations is presented. In order to investigate analytically the influence of axial and shear strains on buckling loads, the geometrically exact beam theory is employed with no simplification of the governing equations. The critical forces are then obtained by the linearized stability theory. The parametric studies are designed so that they give us fundamental understanding of the effects of the delamination number, length and position on the buckling load. The effect of shear is found to be of substantial importance. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.