Nearly everyone has heard of the Anarchist Cookbook in some form or fashion as they were growing up. It was released forty years ago and subsequently circulated throughout the underground teaching folks how to build homemade explosives or subvert telecommunications systems. It’s original author, William Powell, once rallied against government but after seeing the sorts of people he empowered and the deeds they used his teachings for, even he advocated the removal of the Anarchist Cookbook from circulation. As an interesting twist on the book’s history, the nearly 200 page FBI file (pdf) on the Anarchist Cookbook has been released to the public via the Freedom of Information Act.