Paladin Press

Paladin Press
Status	Active
Founded	1970
Founder	Peder Lund & Robert K. Brown
Country of origin	United States
Distribution	United States
Official website	www.paladin-press.com

Paladin Press was a book publishing firm founded in 1970 by Peder Lund and Robert K. Brown. The company published non-fiction books and videos covering a wide range of specialty topics, including 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). Sometimes described as the "most dangerous publisher in the world", it was sued over several murders connected to one of its books, and finally ceased operating in January 2018.

History

The company's first iteration was when Peder Lund began operations in association with co-founder Robert K. Brown, in 1970 as "Panther Publications". Their first book, 150 Questions for a Guerrilla, was by General Alberto Bayo, 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.^{[citation needed]} 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, the company 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 Panther's coverage of topics, while Brown wanted to start a magazine. Lund bought out Brown, who founded Soldier of Fortune magazine (SOF) in 1975.

The newly named Paladin Press then went on to publish work from a variety of well-known and notable figures in the firearms, martial arts, self-defense, privacy, personal freedom and survival fields, among them John Plaster, Kelly McCann, Jim Arvanitis, Jeff Cooper, Col. Rex Applegate, William E. Fairbairn, Barry Reid, Adam Starchild, Detective John L. Russell and Ragnar Benson. They also published Ashida Kim, whose dispute with the company (over royalty payments) is loudly proclaimed on Kim's website.

In 1983, Paladin Press published a controversial book, Hit Man: A Technical Manual for Independent Contractors, under the author's pseudonym "Rex Feral". However, Paladin Press was sued by the families of victims whose murderer they alleged to have used this book as a guideline in three 1993 murders. In 2000, Paladin was sued again as a result of Hit Man. After the cases, Paladin stopped publication, and allowed the remaining copies to sell out. The book is still for sale online.

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 and other popular anti-authoritarian writers. A new in-house printing press enabled Paladin to reprint classic combat books in the public domain as well as bring back into print select titles it had dropped over the years. The company has reprinted 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.

On June 3, 2017, Peder Lund died suddenly while on vacation in Finland, and it was decided to close Paladin Press, with no new orders being accepted, and existing orders being honored until January 31, 2018.

Books

The following is an incomplete list of the books and journals by Paladin Press, limited to publications containing treatise scans, transcriptions, translations, or peer-reviewed research.

Books

• Ain ringeck, Sigmund (2003). Sigmund Ringeck's Knightly Art of the Longsword. Illus. by Peter Svärd. Trans. David Lindholm. Boulder, CO: Paladin Press. ISBN 978-1-58160-410-8.
• Ain ringeck, Sigmund (2006). Sigmund Ringeck's Knightly Arts of Combat. Illus. by Peter Svärd. Trans. David Lindholm. Boulder, CO: Paladin Press. ISBN 978-1-58160-499-3.
• Bradak, Benjamin 'Casper'; Brandon Heslop (2010). Lessons on the English Longsword. Boulder, CO: Paladin Press. ISBN 978-1-58160-734-5.
• Hull, Jeffrey; Grzegorz Żabiński and Monika Maziarz (2007). Knightly Dueling: The Fighting Arts of German Chivalry. Boulder, CO: Paladin Press. ISBN 978-1-581606744.
• Mair, Paulus Hector (2008). The Polearms of Paulus Hector Mair. Trans. Brian Hunt and David Knight. Boulder, CO: Paladin Press. ISBN 978-1-58160-644-7.
• Sainct Didier, Henry de (2009). The Single Sword of Henry de Sainct Didier (Traicté Contenant Les Secrets Du Premier Livre Sur L'Espée Seule). Trans. Robert Preston Hyatt and Devon Wilson. Boulder, CO: Paladin Press. ISBN 978-1581607048.
• Wagner, Paul (2008). Master Of Defence: The Works of George Silver. Boulder, CO: Paladin Press. ISBN 978-1581607239.
• Żabiński, Grzegorz; Bartłomiej Walczak (2002). Codex Wallerstein: A Medieval Fighting Book from the Fifteenth Century on the Longsword, Falchion, Dagger, and Wrestling. Boulder, CO: Paladin Press. ISBN 978-1-58160-585-3.

Articles

• Anglo, Sydney (2008). "Fencing or Fighting? George Silver, Cyril Matthey, and the Infantry Sword Exercise of 1895: Rediscovering an Elizabethan Swordsman in Late Victorian England." Masters of Medieval and Renaissance Martial Arts: 375-384. Ed. John Clements. Boulder, CO: Paladin Press. ISBN 978-1-58160-668-3.
• Anglo, Sydney (2008). "Le Jeu de la Hache: A 15th-Century Treatise." Masters of Medieval and Renaissance Martial Arts: 143-172. Ed. John Clements. Boulder, CO: Paladin Press. ISBN 978-1-58160-668-3.
• Bradak, Benjamin 'Casper'; Brandon Heslop (2008). "A Brief Introduction to the Boon of the English Flourysh." Masters of Medieval and Renaissance Martial Arts: 197-210. Ed. John Clements. Boulder, CO: Paladin Press. ISBN 978-1-58160-668-3.
• Hull, Jeffrey (2008). "The Fight Book of Hugues Wittenwiller." Masters of Medieval and Renaissance Martial Arts: 211-222. Ed. John Clements. Boulder, CO: Paladin Press. ISBN 978-1-58160-668-3.
• Hull, Jeffrey (2008). "The Longsword Fight Lore of Mertin Siber." Masters of Medieval and Renaissance Martial Arts: 223-238. Ed. John Clements. Boulder, CO: Paladin Press. ISBN 978-1-58160-668-3.
• Mair, Paulus Hector (2008). "Paulus Hector Mair: Peasant Staff and Flail." Masters of Medieval and Renaissance Martial Arts: 267-286. Trans. Brian Hunt. Ed. John Clements. Boulder, CO: Paladin Press. ISBN 978-1-58160-668-3.
• Sainct Didier, Henry de (2008). "The Single Sword of Henry de Sainct Didier." Masters of Medieval and Renaissance Martial Arts: 305-340. Trans. Robert Preston Hyatt and Devon Wilson. Ed. John Clements. Boulder, CO: Paladin Press. ISBN 978-1-58160-668-3.
• Tausk, Gene P. (2008). "Nicolaes Petter's Clear Instructions for the Excellent Art of Wrestling." Masters of Medieval and Renaissance Martial Arts: 353-384. Ed. John Clements. Boulder, CO: Paladin Press. ISBN 978-1-58160-668-3.
• Walczak, Bartłomiej (2008). "Judicial Armoured Dagger Combat of Gladiatoria and KK 5013." Masters of Medieval and Renaissance Martial Arts: 173-196. Ed. John Clements. Boulder, CO: Paladin Press. ISBN 978-1-58160-668-3.
• Waldmann, Szabolcs (2008). "Mertein Hündsfelder: Fight Lesson with the Shortened Sword." Masters of Medieval and Renaissance Martial Arts: 239-248. Ed. John Clements. Boulder, CO: Paladin Press. ISBN 978-1-58160-668-3.
• Żabiński, Grzegorz (2008). "Unarmored Longsword Combat by Master Liechtenauer via Priest Döbringer." Masters of Medieval and Renaissance Martial Arts: 59-116. Ed. John Clements. Boulder, CO: Paladin Press. ISBN 978-1-58160-668-3.