The Anarchist Cookbook
The Anarchist Cookbook, was written in the late 1960s and first published in 1971. It was meant as a handbook for the militant counterculture of that era and combined anti-authority rhetoric with instructions for growing marijuana and manufacturing LSD, as well as manufacturing and using explosives and other weaponry.
According to an account given by the book’s author William Powell, it was written during 1968-69 soon after the author left high school. Powell was 19 at the time and says he was involved in the anti-war/countercultural movement. He conducted the research primarily at the New York City public library, with the information mostly drawn from US Special Forces manuals.[1] According to Salon Magazine, “some of the ‘recipes’ were quickly discovered to be dangerously, even mortally inaccurate,” and the inaccuracy of the recipes is widely commented on in internet forums.[2] As for the political content of the book, according to a former flatmate of Powell’s “Most of the stories and anecdotes were made up. Bill was never an anarchist and had no philosophy.[3]
The book was completed in 1971 and published in its unedited form by Lyle Stuart Inc as a gesture against attempts by CIA and FBI agents to obtain lists from libraries of anyone taking out books they considered subversive.[1] The book did not find a distributor until 18 years later.[4]
The book has developed a significant cult following because it was seen as symbolising the radicalism of the period. The New York Times summarised the book’s appeal as follows:
- Its era has long since passed, but somewhere along the way "The Anarchist Cookbook," a step-by-step guide to making bombs at home that was written in the heat of the social upheaval of the early 1970's, became a cult classic. Like the film "The Rocky Horror Picture Show," the "Cookbook" still has a healthy following and still sells steadily, mostly to college students and others longing for a bygone counterculture. [5]
Availability
The book is controversial but extremely popular. In 1993 it sold its two millionth copy. [5]
in 2008
In 2008 it was in stock on Amazon.co.uk. Priced at £26.95 and could be dispatched immediately. Amazon.co.uk also had 14 copies of the book available from its marketplace (independent retailers who list their products alongside those directly available from Amazon). The average price of the book from the marketplace is £14.06. Half of the 14 copies are dispatched from locations within the UK, whilst six are dispatched from the United States and one from Germany.
The book is also available for order on the W H Smith UK website. It is priced £19.99 and is available with “4 or more weeks” from the time ordered. It is listed but not available on the Waterstones website, which recommends customers check availability in branch.
The UK website of Abebooks lists 197 copies, all but 20 price below £20. 45 copies are held in England, 4 in the EU, and 148 copies are available for dispatch from the United States.
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Tony Thompson, ‘Ban my bombers' guide, says author’, The Observer, 11 June 2000
- ↑ Katharine Mieszkowski, ‘Blowing up "The Anarchist Cookbook"’, Salon.com, 18 September 2000
- ↑ quoted in Tony Thompson, ‘Ban my bombers' guide, says author’, The Observer, 11 June 2000
- ↑ Tom Hiney, ‘What makes a book a cult hit?’, The Observer, 21 January 1996.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Sarah Lyall, ‘A Blast From the Past’, New York Times, 27 October 1993
