Ann Larabee – författare

In 1885, there was The Science of Revolutionary Warfare. In 1971, there was The Anarchist Cookbook. In 2012, the Boston Marathon bombers turned to the Internet to learn how to make explosives. For well over a century, the United States government has regarded the circulation of weapons manuals and instruction booklets by radicals as not only dangerous, but criminal. In The Wrong Hands, Ann Larabee traces the nuanced history of do-it-yourself weapons manuals from the late nineteenth century to the present to explain the trajectory of violent radicalism and how it provokes the state's evolving policy toward radical dissent. Larabee begins with Johann Most's The Science of Revolutionary Warfare, which allegedly served as a cookbook for the accused Haymarket Square bombers of 1886. The judge at the Haymarket trial allowed it to be admitted as evidence, setting a precedent for prosecutorial use of such texts against radicals. Health Is in You!, a bombmaking guide circulated by Italian anarchists, further attracted the attention of federal police, and sabotage books were introduced in show trials of labor activists. In the 1960s, small paramilitary publishers produced instructions, largely drawn from US military sources, to cater to a growing popular interest in do-it-yourself weapons making. Published in 1971, The Anarchist Cookbook achieved legendary status and a lasting presence in the courts. The book's critics immediately connected it to the wave of bombings by left-wing radicals of the era, particularly the Weather Underground. Novelistic instructions for bombmaking, as in Edward Abbey's The Monkey Wrench Gang and William Pierce's The Turner Diaries, provided controversial evidence in prosecutions of radicals on the left and right, including Earth Firsters and Timothy McVeigh. Over the last twenty years, sites have proliferated online explaining how to make weapons, including suicide vests, and older print instructions have been digitized. The struggle over the state's responsibility to police such information has long hinged on whether its disseminators are legitimate. An unevenly applied federal terror policy has increased the penalties for possessing popular weapons instructions if those instructions end up in 'the wrong hands' like right-wing militia figures and jihadists (including the Boston Marathon bombers). Larabee ends with an analysis of the 1979 publication of instructions to make a nuclear weapon, which raises the ultimate question: can a society committed to free speech allow these sorts of manuals to disseminate freely? A comprehensive account of an alarming yet persistent historical phenomenon, The Wrong Hands will reshape our understanding of radical violence and state repression in American history.

"[A] valuable account ... The Wrong Hands brilliantly guides us through [the] challenges to American democracy." -Howard P. Segal, Times Higher Education Gun ownership rights are treated as sacred in America, but what happens when dissenters moved beyond firearm possession into the realm of high explosives? How should the state react? Ann Larabee''s The Wrong Hands, a remarkable history of do-it-yourself weapons manuals from the late nineteenth century to the recent Boston Marathon bombing, traces how efforts to ferret out radicals willing to employ ever-more violent methods fueled the growth of the American security state. But over time, the government''s increasingly forceful targeting of violent books and ideas-not the weapons themselves-threatened to undermine another core American right: free expression. In the 1886 Haymarket Square bombing, a new form of revolutionary violence that had already made its mark in Europe arrived in the United States. At the subsequent trial, the judge allowed into evidence Johann Most''s infamous The Science of Revolutionary Warfare, which allegedly served as a cookbook for the accused. Most''s work was the first of a long line of explosive manuals relied on by radicals. By the 1960s, small publishers were drawing from publicly available US military sources to produce works that catered to a growing popular interest in DIY weapons making. The most famous was The Anarchist Cookbook (1971), which soon achieved legendary status-and a lasting presence in the courts. Even novels, such as William Pierce''s The Turner Diaries, have served as evidence in prosecutions of right-wing radicals. More recently, websites explaining how to make all manner of weapons, including suicide vests, have proliferated. The state''s right to police such information has always hinged on whether the disseminators have legitimate First Amendment rights. Larabee ends with an analysis of the 1979 publication of instructions for making a nuclear weapon, which raises the ultimate question: should a society committed to free speech allow a manual for constructing such a weapon to disseminate freely? Both authoritative and eye-opening, The Wrong Hands will reshape our understanding of the history of radical violence and state repression in America.

"[A] valuable account ... The Wrong Hands brilliantly guides us through [the] challenges to American democracy." -Howard P. Segal, Times Higher Education Gun ownership rights are treated as sacred in America, but what happens when dissenters moved beyond firearm possession into the realm of high explosives? How should the state react? Ann Larabee''s The Wrong Hands, a remarkable history of do-it-yourself weapons manuals from the late nineteenth century to the recent Boston Marathon bombing, traces how efforts to ferret out radicals willing to employ ever-more violent methods fueled the growth of the American security state. But over time, the government''s increasingly forceful targeting of violent books and ideas-not the weapons themselves-threatened to undermine another core American right: free expression. In the 1886 Haymarket Square bombing, a new form of revolutionary violence that had already made its mark in Europe arrived in the United States. At the subsequent trial, the judge allowed into evidence Johann Most''s infamous The Science of Revolutionary Warfare, which allegedly served as a cookbook for the accused. Most''s work was the first of a long line of explosive manuals relied on by radicals. By the 1960s, small publishers were drawing from publicly available US military sources to produce works that catered to a growing popular interest in DIY weapons making. The most famous was The Anarchist Cookbook (1971), which soon achieved legendary status-and a lasting presence in the courts. Even novels, such as William Pierce''s The Turner Diaries, have served as evidence in prosecutions of right-wing radicals. More recently, websites explaining how to make all manner of weapons, including suicide vests, have proliferated. The state''s right to police such information has always hinged on whether the disseminators have legitimate First Amendment rights. Larabee ends with an analysis of the 1979 publication of instructions for making a nuclear weapon, which raises the ultimate question: should a society committed to free speech allow a manual for constructing such a weapon to disseminate freely? Both authoritative and eye-opening, The Wrong Hands will reshape our understanding of the history of radical violence and state repression in America.