prefatory note on Anarchism today

157 Pages·2007·12.19 MB·English

_~The
Anarchist
Cookbook~~
by William Powell
with a prefatory note on
Anarchism Today by
P. M. Bergman
BARRICADE BOOKS, INC.
P.O. BOX 1401
SECAUCUS, N.J. 07096
Copyright©1971 byLyleStuartInc.
Copyright©assigned1989 toBarricadeBooks, Inc.
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Allrightsreserved,includingtheright
toreproducethisbookor any
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shouldbeaddressedto:
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P.O.Box1401
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44 43 42 41
The
Anarchist
Cookbook
Contents
Page Page
Aprefatorynoteon Anarchismtoday 9 Chapter Three: NATURAL, NONLETHAL,
Foreword 27 AND LETHALWEAPONS 77
Natural weapons 78
Introduction 29
Hand-to-handcombat 79
Chapter One: DRUGS 31 Applicationofhand weapons 81
Pot 31 Hand weapons 81
Peyote 31 Knives 81
Psilocybin 50 Impromptu weapons 83
DMT 53 Brass knuckles and clubs 85
Bananas 55 Cattleprod 85
Amphetamines 55 Garrote 85
Amyl Nitrate 56 GuerrillaTraining 87
Cough Syrup 56 Pistols and revolvers 89
Glue 58 Holsters 92
Nalline 58 Rifles 93
Cocaine 58 Semi-automatic and automatic weapons 95
Heroin 58 Shotguns 98
Nutmeg 58 Convertingashotgun into agrenadelauncher 98
Paregoric 58 Silencers 98
Peanuts 58 How tobuild asilencerfor apistol 100
Hydrangea leaves 59 How to build asilencer for asubmachinegun 103
Bows and arrows 103
Chapter Two: ELECTRONICS, SABOTAGE,
Chemicals and gases 104
AND SURVEILLANCE 61
How tomake tear gasinyour basement 104
Electronicbuggingdevices 63
Defense and medical treatmentfor gases 105
Microphones 65
Bumperbeepers 68 ChapterFour: EXPLOSIVES AND BOOBYTRAPS 111
Voice-activated tape recorders 68 How to make nitroglycerin 113
Electronicbugdetection 69 How to make mercuryfulminate 114
Electronic jamming 70 How to make blastinggelatin 114
Electronic scramblers 70 Formulasfor the straightdynamite series 114
Mailorderand retail electronicsoutlets 70 How tomake chlorideofazode 115
Broadcastingfree radio 71 Formulasfor ammonium nitratecompounds 116
Telephone and communications sabotage 72 Formulasfor gelatin dynamites 117
Other forms of sabotage 74 How tomake TNT 118
THE ANARCHIST COOKBOOK / 5
6 / CONTENTS
Page Page
How to make tetryl 118 Bangalore torpedo 148
How to make picric acid 119 Molotov Cocktail 148
Formulas for black powder 120 Homemadehand grenade 148
How to make smokeless powder 121 Howtomake ananti-personnelgrenade 149
How tomake nitrogen tri-iodide 121 Book trap 149
Formulas for different-colered smoke screens 121 Door-handletraps 149
Household substitutes 122 Loose floorboardtrap 149
Safetyprecautions 122 Gatetrap 149
Basicformulas fordemolitions use 125 Chimney trap 149
Some important principles 125 Lamp trap 150
Tamping 128 Cartrap 150
Placementofcharges 129 Pipe trap 150
Bridge destruction 130 Pen trap 150
Detonators 132 Whistle trap and other handy devices 150
Release ofpressuredetonators 135 Cacodyal 150
Time delaydevices 135
Postscript 153
Road trap 148
Walk trap 148 Bibliography 159
III
ustrations
Figure Page Figure Page
I. Methods for growing marihuana 34 40. Boxerprimer 91
2. Amature marihuanaplant 35 41. Span holster 92
3. Hookah 38 42. Spring holster 92
4. Peyote 46 43. Spring shouldler holster 92
5. A separatoryfunnel 47 44. Open-end quick-draw holster 93
6. Strophariacubensis and Psilocybe mexicana 50 45. Browninghigh-power rifle 94
7. Primaryfilteringofhomemade DMT 54 46. H&RModel 301 ultrabolt-actioncarbine 94
8. HeatingDMTsolutioninwaterbath 54 47. H&R Model 330 bolt-actionrifle 94
9. Finalcollectionof DMT 55 48. Remingtonbolt-actionModel 788 94
10. Table of weights 55 49. Martin 62 LevermaticRifle 95
1I. Eavesdropper 61 50. Universal Enforcer automatic carbine 95
12. The byphone 62 51. ArmaliteRr-180 carbine 96
13. The carbon button 66 52. Browning high-power automatic rifle 96
14. Crystal Microphone 66 53. Eagle "Apache"carbine 96
15. Dynamic Microphone 67 54. Harringtonand Richardson360 ultra-automatic 96
16. Buttonhole mike, subminiaturemike, suction-cup 55. J & R 68 semi-automatic carbine 96
wall listener, and the parabolic reflector 67 56. Remington 742 Woodmaster 96
17. The snake 67 57. Plainfield MachineCo. carbine 97
18. The electronic stethoscope 68 58. Universal 1000auto-loadingcarbine 97
19. Keyhole for typical pre-1964 Chevie 76 59. Winchester 100 auto-loadingcarbine 97
20. The correctgrip forholdingaknife 81 60. Ruger.44magnumcarbine 97
21. Common hatpin 83 61. Converting a shotgun into a grenade launcher 99
22. Beer-canhandweapon 84 62. Silencerforpistol 100
23. Marine Corps combatknife 84 63. Thompsonsubmachinegunwithsilencer 101
24. Air Forcesurvivalkit 84 64. Cross-sectionviewofThompsonsilencer 102
25. Throwing knife 84 65. M-3 submachinegunwithsilencer 102
26. Brass knuckles 85 66. Crossbow 103
27. KellyCome-Along 85 67. Equipmentset up for preparingtear gas. 106
28. Sap gloves 85 68. Dartsfor rapid injection 108
29. Different types ofbilliesand blackjacks 86 69. Police projectiles 109
30. Mob-control stick 85 70. The crazed anarchist 111
31. Garrote 87 71. Opening explosives 123
32. Sabotage against movingvehicles 88 72. Nonelectrical blasting cap 126
33. Browninghigh-powerautomaticpistol 89 73. Safety fuse 126
34. Smith &Wesson 9-mm. automatic pistol 89 74. Crimpers 126
35. Colt Commander automatic pistol 89 75. Electrical blastingcap 126
36. Smith & Wesson combat masterpiece revolver 90 76. Primingdynamite electrically 127
37. CharterArms undercover .38 special 90 77. Lacingdynamite 127
38. Colt officialpolice revolver 90 78. Lacing plastique 128
39. Llama Model VIII automatic pistol 90 79. Tampingcratercharges 128
THE ANARCHIST COOKBOOK / 7
8 / ILLUSTRATIONS
Figure Page Figure Page
80. Usingexplosivestocutthrough materials 129 96. Nipple time bomb 140
81. RailroadSabotage 129 97. Incendiarytimebomb 140
82. Typeofplacement andtamping todestroy 98. Magnifying-glassbomb 140
large buildings 129 99. Alarm-clock time bomb 140
83. Stringer bridge 130 100. Road trap 141
84. Slabbridge 130 101. Walktrap 141
85. T-beam bridge 131 102. Bangalore torpedo 142
86. Concrete cantileverbridge 131 103. MolotovCocktail 142
87. Truss bridge 132 104. Homemade grenade 143
88. Suspensionbridge 132 105. Book trap 144
89. Tension-release detonator 133 106. Door-handle traps 145
90. Military grenade 134 107. Loose floorboard trap 146
91. Pull-trigger electricdetonator 136 108. Pressure-release gate trap 146
92. Pressure-triggerdeviceunderdriver's seat 135 109. Pipe traps 147
93. Pressure-plate detonator 137 110. Ball-point pen trap 147
94. Release ofpressuredetonator 138 111. Whistle trap 147
95. Tension-release detonator 139
A
prefatory note on Anarchism today
by P. M. Bergman
We live in an age of anarchy both abroad and
athome.
-PresidentRichard M. Nixon
Confronted witha choice, the American people
would choose the policeman's truncheon over
the Anarchist's bomb.
-Vice President SpiroT. Agnew
The revolutionary reaches beyond dissent to
nihilism and anarchy.
-Mayor John V. Lindsay
This is a brutal book-sensual, rude, coarse, and cruel. I believe it to be very characteristic that such a book
However, it is timely and well-written, even witty. Profes appearedonlyinthis country. The sameistrue of the pres
sionallyand painstakingly, all possible informative instruc ent "Cookbook." One might think this is because of the
tions for individual actions of destruction having a pre American constitutional "freedom of speech." But inother
sumably socialeffectare detailed here. countries even the clandestine literature does not, sofar as
There is no political merit in publishing this book; it is I know, showany similaritiesto such a "Cookbook." Blan
not a call to action. For the real Hippy and Yippy, espe qui's famous "Instructions for Insurrection" concentrates
ciallyfor the rebelliousstudent, it hardly contains anything on mass actions (even if initiated by elites) like the build
basic that he does not already know. I believe that it is ingof barricades-something whichneither Most's Science
usuallythe "square guy" who wants to know what isgoing northepresent "Cookbook"givesanyattention to.Andthis,
on, though (or because) shocked and even tantalized by infact, expresses the basic difference-I think the onlydif
such subjects. More often than not it is the subscriber to ference, even-between what is usually called Anarchism
Reader's Digestand Time whoconstitutes the literary mar and revolutionary Marxism. I would like to go further and
ket for such boring commodities as, for example, Games emphasizethe specificnature ofAmerican Anarchism with
PeoplePlay. out denying that this local form still is Anarchism.
Still, the present book is an important reflection of The word "Anarchism" as used in the present book
American Anarchism. It has its historical precedent in a mightbe somewhat misleading, even a misnomer. As often
similar "Cookbook" whichwaspublished in many editions happens, it is confused with "Nihilism"-a word which
and sold openly around the turn of the century (by the Wendell Phillips favorably used after it was introduced by
Anarchist headquarters, at the time in New York City, Turgenjev in FathersandSons.Itfrequented Russian liter
167 WilliamStreet). Its titlewasScienceof Revolutionary ature until the time of Artzybashev. The chapter on nar
Warfare-A Handbook of Instruction regarding the Use cotics, therefore, belongsto the present book. "Free Love"
and Manufacture of Nitroglycerine, Dynamite, Gun-Cot
ton, Fulminating Mercury, Bombs, Arsons, Poisons, etc. and in 1878 had to flee Germany. In England, because of his
extreme Anarchist views, Most broke with Marx and, after serving
The book was written by the Anarchist J. H. Most, who
eighteen monthsat hard labor for advocating regicide, heemigrated
wasthe teacherofEmma Goldman.*
in 1882to the United States. Here he was, at the time of the Hay
marketSquareriot,consideredthe inspirationofradicalismthrough
*Johann Joseph Most (1846-1906), a bookbinder by trade, was out the country, but later, during the Homestead strike, Most spoke
one of thefirstMarxist deputies to theGerman Reichstag. He wrote out against Berkman's assault on Henry Clay Frick. He was im
the firstpopularization of Capital. For his very radical publications prisoned for alleged sedition after the assassination of President
against religion and patriotism, he was several times imprisoned, McKinley.
THE ANARCHIST COOKBOOK / 9
10 / THE ANARCHIST COOKBOOK
(also religion) is missing here, for the good reason that it Calling a policeman a "pig" seems sillyand must antag
lost its sensational popularity in the Anarchist kitchen. onize the very people the revolutionaries want to win over
Thus the popular synonymous use of Anarchism for Nihil or to neutralize. But the actual relationships of power are
ism isunderstandable: Dostoyevsky's Netshayev was, after such that name-calling is the only weapon available at the
all, an important collaborator of Bakunin. moment. Besides, name-calling isan emotional outlet (and
Nihilism isAnarchism, and Nihilism is revolutionary al revolutionaries also have emotions). "Pig" is an assault,
though it is an aberration of Anarchism. Like all other no doubt-an assault against the uniform which, though a
modern revolutionary tendencies, it is based philosophi fetish, is in itself a power, an assault against the whole
callyontheHegelianaxiom: "NegationofNegation,"which power structure. It is an assault-and a crime punishable
Friedrich Engels approvingly resolved with Goethe's by law. Here is the strong policeman, heavily armed, with
words: "All that exists is worth perishing"; or, as recently the entire physical and ideological power of the state be
expressed more simply in a note left in a bank burned by hind him, and he is attacked by a word-by a word only,
Anarchists in West Berlin: "Make kaputt what makes you but it isstill an attack.
kaputt," What will the "pig" do? In the last analysis it is not up
Not only Anarchism, but any other real revolutionary to the policeman, who, though having a loaded gun in his
movement is dragged into some forms of Nihilism. This hand, has in fact no power; it isup to the state to givethe
understandably occurs especially in the formative stages as answer. It might not be "smart" of Bobby Sealeto provoke
well as sometimes in the declining, depressive stages. Who his jailers by repeatedly calling them "pigs," therefore
can deny the historical importance of the wrecking of getting brutally beaten and put in isolation. But "pig" is
machinery by the Luddites (though today we are so clever his only means of defense against the attacks upon his
that we tell them what they should have done instead)? humanity at the moment and gives him a chance to get
There is no doubt that the assassination of czars and Rus recognition for his beliefs and as a human being.
sian governors effected, if nothing else, different treatment Basically what applies to the silly "pigs"-calling is also
ofpolitical "criminals"-somethingwhich stillhas not been valid for the often Hollywoodlike hijackings, the taking of
achieved in the "free" United States. Without denying the hostages, and even for the more harmful "Anarchist cook
truly revolutionary character of the Palestinian comman ing." These methods are not "smart"; they are aberrations
dos, their newest weapon, hijacking, issurely an aberration which sometimes border on insanity. But these methods
intheir struggle for recognition. But the taking of hostages of the revolutionary struggle of today are here and existing
is nothing new in revolutionary history. The Paris Com and real and, in the philosophical sense, reasonable. They
mune did it, as well as such partisans as the Titoists in reflect the true stage of the revolutionary struggle in the
Yugoslavia, the Maquis in France, and, before them, the whole world. Its stage is today again embryonic.
Max-HoelzBrigade inWeimar Germany. In describing the American Revolution, history text
"Putschismus;" as it is called in German, or "coup de books tell us only of such great episodes as the Boston
main," in French, isnot limited to Anarchism. In the early Massacre, which unlocked the revolutionary spirit of the
twenties in Germany, attempts at bombing of public toilets people; of the Boston Tea Party, which contested the pow
and of the victory memorialin Berlin, or the famous bomb er ofthe British parliament;or of the Battle ofBunkerHill,
ingof the cathedral in Sofia (1923), and many other such which took on the form of a real revolutionary war. The
"actions" were tacitly approved and initiated by Commu history textbooks, however, fail to describe the "Anarchist
nists, especially at the time oftheir decline. cooking" and innumerable sabotage actions which surely
The main aspect of Anarchist actions, which surely do were going on in the several decades before. the actual
not conform with the civilized rules of politics and war revolution. One cannot doubt that the Hessian mercenaries
fare (no government abides by them either, by the way) were called names.
isto draw attention more to the existence of the movement
than to its ideas. The attempt to free prisoners by taking The author of Anarchist Cookbook does not see in the
hostages, or to reduce mistreatment of prisoners by indi individualistic acts of terror he describes the ultima ratio.
vidualattacksonofficialsand bybomb scares,willnotcreate He emphasizes that the real revolution will require the
sympathy. However, it might lead to a "giving-in" by the American people, and he has trust in them, but still he is
government, forcing it to recognize the existence of the not scared by the anger of short-sighted liberals and sensi
illegal Anarchist movement. As a matter of fact, the gov tive quasi-revolutionaries. However, I believe in the ap
ernment itself commits an illegal act by "giving-in" to the proach that Marx took toward the different forms of revo
assault. Usually a government fares better by "giving in," lutionary struggles. This approach was not at all abstractly
but, on the other hand, one of the criteria of a revolution "theoretical," but very concrete and practical. It was
ary situation is that a stage is reached where the govern limited to one question: "Whom does this serve?" But
ment feels it can no longer give in. before dealing with this question, in regard to the "cook-