Ban my bombers' guide, says author The man whose `Anarchist Cookbook' helped fuel three decades of terrorism admits: I was misguided

IT CONTAINS the formula for nitroglycerin, dynamite and TNT. There are detailed instructions on guerrilla warfare, converting shotguns into grenade-launchers and building home-made sil-encers for pistols.

It teaches how to make tear gas and LSD, how to run a pirate radio station and sabotage communications networks. There are pages devoted to planting explosives in table lamps, garden gates and even fountain pens.

For more than three decades, The Anarchist Cookbook has been the bible for budding terrorists and has helped spawn bombing campaigns across the globe. More than two million copies have been sold. But in a move that will horrify legions of devoted readers, the author of the book this weekend admitted he had grown older and wiser and was renouncing violent direct action.

William Powell, who wrote the book more than 30 years ago, is calling for it to be taken out of print and for websites carrying such information to be closed down. The book spawned many imitations, including those alleged to have been used by London nail bomber David...