This new edition of Cooper’s classic Principles of Personal Defense – with a fitting tribute by firearms expert Louis Awerbuck and all-new drawings by renowned illustrator Paul Kirchner – presents his timeless theory of individual defensive behavior clearly, concisely and practically. All free people who aspire to stay that way should read, study and share the wisdom found within these pages. Considered by many to be one of the greatest books on combat mindset and proper defensive mental condi
Jeff Cooper is the best — but this is a pamphlet, not a book!,
If you’re looking for information from the best in his field, Jeff Cooper is the go-to guy. But DO NOT waste your money on this “book.” This is a reissue of a 1989 training presentation that Cooper developed.
While his chapter headings are good (7 principles), each “chapter” is about 2-3 pages of large print. The entire “book” contains only 28 pages on which there is reading material, and many of those pages are less than half full. And Paladin Press, usually fairly competent, apparently never bothered to proofread this mess, with missing punctuation and errors such as “50-called” instead of “so-called.”
I will now give you the entire book, in less than 100 words:
Here are the seven principles of successful personal defense:
– Alertness
– Decisiveness
– Aggressiveness
– Speed
– Coolness
– Ruthlessness
– Surprise
And the one take-home nugget of insight from this book:
All of these principles must be backed up by one’s SKILL with a firearm, which requires training and practice. “YOU ARE NO MORE ARMED BECAUSE YOU ARE WEARING A PISTOL THAN YOU ARE A MUSICIAN BECAUSE YOU OWN A GUITAR.” This one sentence inspired me to schedule some refresher training, and to set aside some additional time on a weekly basis to practice and maintain my skills.
OK, I just saved everyone about $10, plus s+h, plus the wait for it to arrive in the mail, plus the disappointment that you didn’t buy one of Jeff’s other books instead. Buy a box of JHPs with good stopping power, and think of me [fondly, NOT as the imaginary target!] the next time you go to the practice range.
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Extremely Informative,
I thought the content of the book was excellent. It breaks down in small portions, principles of self defense that a person can apply everyday in their life. No magic, just great common sense. My only gripe is that the book is so short. It literally takes about 1/2 hour to read.
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Principles of Personal Defense,
O.K. The basic concepts of the book are fine. However, this is not a book. It is a magazine article in disguise. Half of the forty pages are pictures, blank, of half pages of text. Go to the library if you must read this, but save your money.
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