My first exposure to this counter-culture classic was in the most unexpected of settings, my college ROTC classroom. The book written in protest of the Viet-Nam War was being used by a Green Beret veterain of that same war to train us who might be leading troops in, yes, that same war. The irony speaks for itself. I understand that William Powell no longer agrees with what he wrote as a young man, and symphathise with the plight of an artist who has lost control of his work. However, I am glad (and somewhat suprised) that this is still available. Not only is it an important sociological piece of the period, but it is filled with information that could be useful if (god forbid) things ever hit the fan. That same ROTC instructor told me time and again, "Better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it," so this book gets a space on my shelf just in case. It's the best book I hope you'll never need.