The Most Controversial How-To Books Ever Published: “Killing Without Joy” and the “How To Kill” Series (1973-1984) by John Minnery Published between 1973 and 1984, John Minnery’s How To Kill series occupies a strange corner of American publishing history — part military manual, part pulp curiosity, part psychological artifact of the Cold War era. The books were released during a period when American culture remained haunted by Vietnam, espionage, political assassinations, and fears of social collapse — readers consumed survival manuals, mercenary magazines, and tales of covert operations with an appetite that now feels distinctly tied to the anxieties of the twentieth century. Minnery’s work reflected this environment: Rather than focusing on ideology or patriotism, the books approached violence with a detached, almost clinical tone — diagrams, illustrations, and technical descriptions reduced acts of killing to procedures and mechanisms. Woven throughout the material was a recurring warning: the reader was instructed to “kill without joy” — to view violence as a mechanical act… … but while claiming to discourage bloodlust, they simultaneously transformed violence into a subject of obsessive study. The result feels less like a practical manual and more like a glimpse into a particular mindset: one shaped by paranoia, clandestine fantasies, and the belief that secret knowledge could provide control in an increasingly uncertain world. Little is known about Minnery himself, but his books were published by Paladin Press, the infamous Boulder, Colorado publisher that spent decades testing the boundaries of free speech — Paladin became notorious for producing manuals on guerrilla tactics, improvised weapons, surveillance, lock picking, and other subjects most mainstream publishers avoided. By the 1990s, the company had become the center of national controversy after one of its publications was cited in a civil lawsuit involving a real-world murder. Whether the books functioned as practical guides or merely fantasy objects remains debated, but the incident cemented Paladin’s reputation as one of the most controversial publishers in America. - @saint