[Chad Ward]

Okay, we generally talk about what's in our gunsafes, but what's on your bookshelf? Over the last several years I've compiled quite a collection of shooting/tactics/personal defense books. The short list:
Cooper -- Principles of Personal Defense
Bird -- Concealed Handgun Manual
Cirillo -- Guns, Bullets & Gunfights
Givens -- Complete Concealed Hangun
Givens -- Fighting Smarter
Suarez -- Tactical Pistol
Suarez -- Tactical Advantage
Rauch -- Real World Survival
Lonsdale -- CQB
Ahern -- CCW: Carrying Concealed Weapons
Taylor -- Gun Digest Book of Combat Handgunning
Bloodworth -- Hidden in Plain Sight
Marshall & Sanow -- Street Stoppers
Farnam -- Farnam Method of Rifle & Shotgun
and (in my opinion) the best book on self defense today, Gila May-Hays' Effective Defense, the Woman, the Gun, The Plan.

What else is out there? What's good and what's not?

Chad

 

[GLV]

Anything by Ayoob, Felter, On Killing by Grossman, Sharpening The Warrier's Edge by Siddle, Street Survival, Tactical Edge from Calibre Press, Morrison's The Modern Technique of the Pistol, and don't forget the old guys--Applegate, Fairborn, Sykes, Gaylord. You will find that very little is really new.
GLV

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: GLV on 2001-05-31 22:05 ]</font>

 

[Rosco Benson]

I would add Louis Awerbuck's TACTICAL REALITY. This book is a compilation of his SWAT magazine columns and covers great deal of ground. One thing about Awerbuck's writing is that he seldom states "THIS is THE WAY to do THAT". Instead, he points out things to consider. Thus, the book is truly thought provoking.

Rosco

 

[Marty Hayes]

Chad:

I showed my wife the post of yours, her reply "Oh, how nice of him. Tell him thanks".

BTW, for anyone interested, the second edition of "Effective Defense" is now out. It's bigger, badder and has more attitute!

Also costs more, $16.95 plus $4.00 shipping.

 

[Guest]

Chad,
I came over after I saw your request, it will actually take me some time to list all of my books as I will need to go through my cabinets and detail them all. At last count I am well over 400-500 volumes. A great deal of my library was given to me by my father, I have purchased and read entire volumes on Surgery, ballistic design, metalogoy, mechanical engineering. I have the complete set of Elsiver Science Press forensic investigation series. I have every one of the Calibre press Police Survival series. I have the complete volume/set of Prentice Hall Crime scene and Invesigation series. I have three seperate sets of volumes on firearms tool mark identification series. I have several dozen editions of Official Manuals/Books including the complete set of US Army CID Investigation manuals, US Navy CID Investigation Manuals,. As well as the classics by Thompson, Lagarde,Minnie, Browning, Askins, AppleGate, Cooper, Gaylord.
I have the complete set of volumes of the TAO- series, volumes by Sun Tzo,and Mushashi. Modern volumes include Cirillo, Ayoob, Taylor, Stanford, Grover, Hunter, Senich,Plaster, Henderson, Watson, Orr Kelly,Douglas, Marchinko,Sterling, DeBecker, Thompson, Smeets, Lau, Morgan, Hayes, Dockery, Longsdale, Bem. The complete set of Marshall/Sanow books.
I have dozens more on field craft/tracking/hunting/game animals and dozens of Archery manuals.
Far too many to list...

 

[Chad Ward]

I showed my wife the post of yours, her reply "Oh, how nice of him. Tell him thanks".

BTW, for anyone interested, the second edition of "Effective Defense" is now out. It's bigger, badder and has more attitute!

Also costs more, $16.95 plus $4.00 shipping.

Marty,

"Effective Defense" is my first recommendation to anyone, male or female, considering buying a gun for self defense. It's probably the best primer on the subject out there.

What's new in the 2nd edition? And are you considering making it available through Amazon or other online dealers?

Chad

 

[Marty Hayes]

What's new is Gila covers long-guns more in-depth, info and stats on work-place violence. It's also been 8 years between books, and her body of knowledge has increased so much she wanted to refine the whole book.

As far as making it available on-line, we sell it to any distributor or dealer that wants to buy in quantity in standard discounts. Palidin will be picking up the second edition soon, too.

 

[Greg Ellifritz]

Like David I also have several hundred titles in my library. All of those listed are great books. Here are some others you might enjoy:

Sanford Strong's Strong on Defense
Grover's Street Smarts, Firearms and Personal Security
Artwohl's Deadly Force Encounters
Hoch Hockheim's Knife books
Ryan's Master of the Blade
Sockout's Secrets of Street Survival- Isreali style
Mroz' Defensive shooting for real life encounters
Enos' Practical Shooting Beyond Fundamentals
Waters' Best Defense
Pfouts' Lead Poisoning
Christiansen's Far Beyond Defensive Tactics
Wright and Decker's Armed Robbers in Action
Hare's Without Conscience

Some of these are out of print but they are still great books.

By the way, GLV, Who is "Felter"? He's the only one I haven't read.

 

[joepicar]

Brian Felter now works for NRA LE Activities Division. He has worked for Beretta among others after leaving law enforcement. I had the pleasure of attending several of his classes. His books are now out of print.

 

[Rob Garrett]

A few more to consider:

A Rifleman Went to War by H. G. McBride
No Second Place Winner by Bill Jordan
Triggernometry by Eugene Cunningham
Handgunner's Guide by Chic Gaylord

These are all somewhat dated but still relevant to the subject at hand.

Rob

Ditto on anything by Calibre Press and some of Ayoob's books.

 

[Greg Ellifritz]

Thanks for the information Joe. I'll look for his stuff. By the way, speaking of books, Joe publishes an excellent manual of various police departments' firearms courses. I use it often when trying to come up with new drills for my officers. If you are a firearms instructor this book should definitely be in your library!

 

[Guest]

Joe,
Can you post or email the details on your manual/book?
I would be very interested and I believe a fair number of our readers would as well.

 

[joepicar]

David;

If you go to the le site, there is info on the manual. It was reviewed in SWAT magazine last year by Tom Givens. Currently Police Marksman has a review by Dave Grassi.

Send me a mailing address and I can send out a packet of info.

 

[Chad Ward]

If you go to the le site, there is info on the manual. It was reviewed in SWAT magazine last year by Tom Givens. Currently Police Marksman has a review by Dave Grassi.

Send me a mailing address and I can send out a packet of info.

Joe, is the manual available to non-LEOs? I've got quite a collection of local, state & federal firearms qualification courses, but I'd love to see something as complete as you've put together.

Chad

 

[joepicar]

Chad;

The manual is available only to leos. We do sell the manualt to civilian trainers who also teach leos. This is a MLEFI&AA policy and not mine.

 

[GLV]

Joe, if you would e-mail me the info on your book, I would appreciate it. I have current NRA certs for LEO rifle, shotgun and handgun, ASLET member since 88, and IALEFI since 94. Thanks

FYI Brian Felter was a rep for Sig when I first met him at the 88 ASLET conference in KC. When I saw him again in 91? I think, in Fl at the ASLET conference, he was rep for Beretta. Brian is a natural left hand guy, so he is a superb instructor from the left side and an all around very fine teacher.

The two Felter books I have are 'Police Shotguns and Carbines' and 'Police defensive Handgun use and Encounter Tactics'
These are not casual enterainment reading. They are manuals. Both are very well done.

One other writer I failed to mention, is a name you don't see much anymore. George Nonte. If I live long enough, perhaps I'll get around to cataloging my several hundred firearms and tactics books. Then again, I hit my 3 score and 10 this month so I may not. GLV

 

[joepicar]

If you send me your mailing address I can send a copy of 2 articles on the manual, a sample page and list of agencies with manuals in your state.

 

[Chad Ward]

Just received a couple of new books. I'd have to add Drive to Survive by Curt Rich to my personal "must have" list. It's pretty short, but Rich applies the combat mindset to defensive driving. He even goes into detail on how Cooper's Color Code works when you're in a car.

I'm just now getting to the meaty stuff -- Bootlegger & J-turns, brake trailing and smooth high-speed cornering. Why do I feel like I'll be in a large, deserted parking lot somewhere this weekend? :grin:

I know that a book can never replace good hands-on training from a qualified instructor. But until I get the chance to take the Bondurant High Performance Driving and Executive Protection courses, what other books videos would those of you with this type of experience recommend?

Thanks!
Chad

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Chad Ward on 2001-06-22 10:39 ]</font>