Paladin Press
Encyclopedia
Paladin Press is a book publishing firm founded in 1970 by Peder Lund and Robert K. Brown
.
The company publishes non-fiction books and videos covering a wide range of specialty topics, including (but not limited to) personal and financial freedom, survivalism
and preparedness, firearms and shooting
, various martial arts
and self-defense
, military
and police tactics, investigation techniques, spying, lockpicking, sabotage, revenge, knives and knife fighting, explosives, and other "action topics" (though the availability of books on topics like improvised explosives has been severely curtailed in recent years).
, a Communist veteran of the Spanish Civil War who became Fidel Castro’s mentor when Castro was training men in Mexico for his successful revolution in Cuba. The theories advocated in his book were state-of-the-art for the time. Paladin’s edition became required reading for serious students of guerrilla warfare and is still in print today. This early work set the tone for Paladin’s future: it would be first to print books about controversial or suppressed subjects, and it would also be criticized for publishing works that some people found objectionable.
From 1970 to 1974, Paladin developed its stock of titles primarily by reprinting government military manuals previously available to the public only through purchase of purloined copies. In 1974, Lund and Brown split over the direction the company should take. Lund wanted to expand Paladin’s coverage of topics, while Brown wanted to start a magazine. Lund bought out Brown, who founded Soldier of Fortune magazine (SOF) in 1975.
, Kelly McCann, Ragnar Benson
, Jim Cirillo, Jim Arvanitis, Louis Awerbuck, Marc MacYoung
, Sammy Franco, Jeff Cooper, Col. Rex Applegate
, William E. Fairbairn
, Michael Janich, Mike Conti, and Phil Elmore. Paladin is also a former publisher of Ashida Kim, whose dispute with the company (over royalty payments) is loudly proclaimed on Kim's website. In the spring of 2006, Paladin announced that it had acquired the rights to reprint 40 books previously published by Loompanics Unlimited, including the works of Claire Wolfe
, Eddie the Wire, and other popular anti-authoritarian writers.
A new in-house printing press has enabled Paladin to launch an ambitious program to reprint classic combat books in the public domain as well as bring back into print select titles it had dropped over the years. To date, the company has reprinted previously hard-to-find books on World War II hand-to-hand combat, firearms, combat shooting, counterinsurgency, martial arts
, survival skills
, boxing, wrestling, and self-defense.
under the author's pseudonym "Rex Feral". The book is written as if by an actual experienced assassin, as a how-to manual on contract killing. It was alleged to be written by a divorced mother-of-two who simply fabricated much of the material it contains based on mystery novels and movies. The book goes on at length about studying "the mark," learning that "mark's" movements and routine, and silently moving in for the profitable kill, offering advice on weapon selection and techniques.
In 2000, Paladin Press was sued again as a result of Hit Man. The lawsuit was result of the 1998 attempted murder of Bobby Joe Wilson by her ex husband, Robert Leslie Goggin, who allegedly hired Robert Jones to kill her in order to get money from her life insurance policy. In court, Jones testified that Goggin recruited him to kill Wilson. Jones said he then purchased Hit Man. In her lawsuit, Wilson outlined two dozen points of advice from the book that Jones followed to the letter in planning to kill her. The suit was eventually settled out of court in 2002.
Paladin no longer publishes the book, and allowed the remaining copies to sell out Copies exist on the Internet (notably IRC
), often accompanied by the spurious claim that the book is now in the public domain
. Paladin Press claims that the rights are still held by the author.
Robert K. Brown
Lieutenant Colonel Robert K. Brown is a combat correspondent, investigative journalist, and founder/editor/publisher of Soldier of Fortune magazine , a pro-gun, pro-military magazine which reports on various armed confrontations around the world, as well as on new weapons and other military...
.
The company publishes non-fiction books and videos covering a wide range of specialty topics, including (but not limited to) personal and financial freedom, survivalism
Survivalism
Survivalism is a movement of individuals or groups who are actively preparing for future possible disruptions in local, regional, national, or international social or political order...
and preparedness, firearms and shooting
Shooting
Shooting is the act or process of firing rifles, shotguns or other projectile weapons such as bows or crossbows. Even the firing of artillery, rockets and missiles can be called shooting. A person who specializes in shooting is a marksman...
, various martial arts
Martial arts
Martial arts are extensive systems of codified practices and traditions of combat, practiced for a variety of reasons, including self-defense, competition, physical health and fitness, as well as mental and spiritual development....
and self-defense
Self-defense
Self-defense, self-defence or private defense is a countermeasure that involves defending oneself, one's property or the well-being of another from physical harm. The use of the right of self-defense as a legal justification for the use of force in times of danger is available in many...
, military
Military
A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...
and police tactics, investigation techniques, spying, lockpicking, sabotage, revenge, knives and knife fighting, explosives, and other "action topics" (though the availability of books on topics like improvised explosives has been severely curtailed in recent years).
History
Paladin's first book, 150 Questions for a Guerrilla, was by Gen. Alberto BayoAlberto Bayo
Alberto Bayo y Giroud was a Cuban military leader of the defeated left-wing Loyalists in the Spanish Civil War. He was also a poet and essayist.He was born in Cuba and studied in the United States and Spain...
, a Communist veteran of the Spanish Civil War who became Fidel Castro’s mentor when Castro was training men in Mexico for his successful revolution in Cuba. The theories advocated in his book were state-of-the-art for the time. Paladin’s edition became required reading for serious students of guerrilla warfare and is still in print today. This early work set the tone for Paladin’s future: it would be first to print books about controversial or suppressed subjects, and it would also be criticized for publishing works that some people found objectionable.
From 1970 to 1974, Paladin developed its stock of titles primarily by reprinting government military manuals previously available to the public only through purchase of purloined copies. In 1974, Lund and Brown split over the direction the company should take. Lund wanted to expand Paladin’s coverage of topics, while Brown wanted to start a magazine. Lund bought out Brown, who founded Soldier of Fortune magazine (SOF) in 1975.
Current publishing ventures
Paladin Press currently publishes (or has formerly published) work from a variety of well-known and notable figures in the firearms, martial arts, self-defense, and survival fields, among them John PlasterJohn Plaster
Major John L. Plaster is a former U.S. Army Special Forces soldier regarded as one of the leading sniper experts in the world. A decorated Vietnam War veteran who served in the covert Studies and Observations Group , Plaster co-founded a renowned sniper school that trains military and law...
, Kelly McCann, Ragnar Benson
Ragnar Benson
Ragnar Benson is the pen name of a prolific survivalist author who specializes in preparedness topics, particularly survival retreats, hunting, trapping, austere medicine, false identification, explosives, firearms, and improvised weapons. Many of his books were published by Loompanics Unlimited...
, Jim Cirillo, Jim Arvanitis, Louis Awerbuck, Marc MacYoung
Marc MacYoung
Marc "Animal" MacYoung is an American survivalist author and martial artist. Initially known best for his street-violence survival books, MacYoung later went on to write personal safety / self-defense books and make instructional videos. According to the IMDB, he is considered to be one of the...
, Sammy Franco, Jeff Cooper, Col. Rex Applegate
Rex Applegate
Rex Applegate was an American military officer who worked for the Office of Strategic Services, where he trained Allied special forces personnel in close-quarters combat during World War II. He held the rank of colonel....
, William E. Fairbairn
William E. Fairbairn
William Ewart Fairbairn was a British soldier, police officer and exponent of hand-to-hand combat method, the close combat, for the Shanghai Police between the world wars, and allied special forces in World War II. He developed his own fighting system known as Defendu, as well as other weapons...
, Michael Janich, Mike Conti, and Phil Elmore. Paladin is also a former publisher of Ashida Kim, whose dispute with the company (over royalty payments) is loudly proclaimed on Kim's website. In the spring of 2006, Paladin announced that it had acquired the rights to reprint 40 books previously published by Loompanics Unlimited, including the works of Claire Wolfe
Claire Wolfe
Claire Wolfe is a libertarian author and columnist. Some of Wolfe's favored topics are gulching or homesteading, firearms, homeschooling, open source technology, and opposition to national ID and the surveillance state or nanny state....
, Eddie the Wire, and other popular anti-authoritarian writers.
A new in-house printing press has enabled Paladin to launch an ambitious program to reprint classic combat books in the public domain as well as bring back into print select titles it had dropped over the years. To date, the company has reprinted previously hard-to-find books on World War II hand-to-hand combat, firearms, combat shooting, counterinsurgency, martial arts
Martial arts
Martial arts are extensive systems of codified practices and traditions of combat, practiced for a variety of reasons, including self-defense, competition, physical health and fitness, as well as mental and spiritual development....
, survival skills
Survival skills
Survival skills are techniques a person may use in a dangerous situation to save themselves or others...
, boxing, wrestling, and self-defense.
Controversial publications
Paladin Press published the book Hit Man: A Technical Manual for Independent ContractorsHit Man: A Technical Manual for Independent Contractors
Hit Man: A Technical Manual for Independent Contractors is a book written under the pseudonym Rex Feral and published by Paladin Press in 1983. Paladin Press owner Peder Lund claimed, in an interview with 60 minutes, that the book started life as a detailed crime novel written by a Florida...
under the author's pseudonym "Rex Feral". The book is written as if by an actual experienced assassin, as a how-to manual on contract killing. It was alleged to be written by a divorced mother-of-two who simply fabricated much of the material it contains based on mystery novels and movies. The book goes on at length about studying "the mark," learning that "mark's" movements and routine, and silently moving in for the profitable kill, offering advice on weapon selection and techniques.
Legal issues
Paladin was sued by the family of a victim whose murderer is alleged to have used this book as a guideline in three 1993 murders. In 1999, Paladin Press' insurance company settled out of court and agreed to pay several million dollars to the families of the victims, against the wishes of Paladin Press themselves, who wanted to fight the lawsuit on First Amendment grounds.In 2000, Paladin Press was sued again as a result of Hit Man. The lawsuit was result of the 1998 attempted murder of Bobby Joe Wilson by her ex husband, Robert Leslie Goggin, who allegedly hired Robert Jones to kill her in order to get money from her life insurance policy. In court, Jones testified that Goggin recruited him to kill Wilson. Jones said he then purchased Hit Man. In her lawsuit, Wilson outlined two dozen points of advice from the book that Jones followed to the letter in planning to kill her. The suit was eventually settled out of court in 2002.
Paladin no longer publishes the book, and allowed the remaining copies to sell out Copies exist on the Internet (notably IRC
Internet Relay Chat
Internet Relay Chat is a protocol for real-time Internet text messaging or synchronous conferencing. It is mainly designed for group communication in discussion forums, called channels, but also allows one-to-one communication via private message as well as chat and data transfer, including file...
), often accompanied by the spurious claim that the book is now in the public domain
Public domain
Works are in the public domain if the intellectual property rights have expired, if the intellectual property rights are forfeited, or if they are not covered by intellectual property rights at all...
. Paladin Press claims that the rights are still held by the author.