A reader can get much more information from a short article in an Encyclopedia (which Lecker probably copied from), and VASTLY much more from one of the other books on explosives by any number of other authors which only list guncotton as one of the numerous chemicals their books explore.

It's as though Lecker doesn't write from experience (though his supposed credentials imply otherwise) as most of his textual writing is NOT conversational but more like abbreviated sentence structured excerpts from reference manuals.

For instance, Lecker does not describe the actual molar concentrations of nitric and sulfuric acids used nor the stoichiometry proportions of cotton to acid nor why the sulfuric acid is even used since it is not incorporated in the resulting chemical formula.

There is no reference to what type of utencils to use or avoid when mixing the acids and stirring nor how to know precisely if you have neutralized the guncotton properly, ie., using a pH meter or colorimetry acid-base pH indicator, chemical litmus paper.

Ninety-seven per cent of the text simply copies reference material from the standard MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) for nitric and sulfuric acids and a general overview of industrial safety totally unrelated to any specific chemical such as guncotton.

Poor Man's TNT Improvised Guncotton's only redeeming value is that Lecker lists 5 sources for more information on explosives and rocket propulsion in a short bibliography.

I would totally recommend that the reader NOT waste their time, money, effort, and resultant dissatisfaction and frustration on Lecker's book and definitely learn much more from any number of other books.

In fact, 100% of the pertinent information listed in Lecker's book would take less room than this review of his book.

Don't waste your time, his book is extremely disappointing.