As much as I would love to include scans, or copies, of these manuals - so as not to violate copyright law, or any other laws prohibiting the distribution of material that may be of harmful nature, I am opting to instead include a brief summary and my thoughts on these pieces.
My ownership, and study, of these manuals is purely academic, aided by the fact that I have had an extensive interest in military history for as long as I can remember myself.
At no point do I condone the replication of any of the techniques, or construction of any of the implements, discussed in these books.
A trapping manual, clearly profoundly inspired by WW2 combat, describing the construction, implementation, and use of a variety of improvised (primarily explosive) antimateriel and antipersonnel devices.
Contents include chapters on the Characteristics of Boobytraps, Use of Boobytraps, Boobytrapping Equipment, Construction Techniques, Miscellaneous Boobytraps, as well as Boobytrap Detection and Removal.
Without discussing the contents in too much depth, I can only say that this manual comes with an assortment of beautiful illustrations depicting the construction, and internals, of a variety of devices ranging from explosive canteens, to homemade claymore devices. Provided also, are detailed explanations of arming and disarming techniques, going over most standard equipment provided to U.S. Military personnel.
A fascinating read for anyone interested in U.S. military doctrine concerning boobytraps, from the post-Korean-War, pre-Vietnam-War era.
Another U.S. Military manual, this Department of the Army Technical Manual outlines, in much greater detail than the 1965 Boobytraps Manual, the nuances of improvised munitions and guerilla warfare.
While this manual does not cover the techniques, tactics, or strategies in leading guerilla warfare, it is an excellent hands-on manual concerning the construction of homemade weapons for waging said warfare.
In fact, without being too detailed, the book, in its very first pages, describes that the purpose of this manual is to increase the potential of U.S. forces, and guerilla troops, to wage unconventional warfare. Much thicker than the Boobytraps manual (almost twice, in fact), this volume includes chapters on Explosives and Propellants, Mines and Grenades, Small Arms Weapons and Ammunition, Incendiary Devices, Fuses, Detonators, and Delay Mechanisms, as well as a Miscellaneous section containing useful information pertaining as to the construction of improvised switches, batteries, and other components.
It is clear that this manual incorporates information gained from the experience of the first years of combat in Vietnam; alongside conventional explosives, available to the military, the book goes in-depth as to the creation of improvised explosives, and explosive substances. For the sake of my own relationship with the government (which, I am pleased to say, is not an offensive one), I will NOT include the names of any of these substances, lest I wish to receive a knock on my door with very unhappy RCMP agents.
Interesting is the extensive section on homemade fuses, homemade small arms, and various mines. This manual seems to acknowledge improvised munitions and unconventional warfare as a much larger threat than previous manuals, which makes perfect sense considering the difficulties encountered by U.S. personnel in Vietnam, against the North Vietnamese forces.
This is a great manual to read for any enthusiast of guerilla warfare tactics and equipment.
Another U.S. Military manual; I am somewhat disappointed by the branding of this book, as it's clearly portraying itself as an "Anarchist Cookbook" sort of text; while the Anarchist Cookbook itself is a very poorly researched manual, I cannot help but be slightly saddened by the fact that this is simply a re-badged U.S. Military demolitions manual. Normally, this would be a fascinating read in it of itself, but the cover would lead you to expect something much closer to the "Improvised Munitions Handbook", than a "Demolitions Manual".
With my complaints out of the way, allow me to say that this is nonetheless a very well put-together book, focused much more so on the engineering aspect of demolitions - whereas the first portion covers explosives, the second covers the actual techniques, tactics, and planning involved in running a demolitions project.