When legal channels fail and the stakes are existential, some choose a different path.
"Monkey Wrenching" is Nick Razer's comprehensive history of sabotage as a tool of resistance—from the machine-breaking Luddites of 19th century England to the radical environmentalists of Earth First!, from anti-war saboteurs to hacktivists targeting corporate surveillance.
Razer examines the philosophy behind direct action: when is property destruction morally justified? What distinguishes sabotage from terrorism? How have movements balanced effectiveness with ethics? And what lessons can contemporary activists draw from centuries of clandestine resistance?
This isn't an instruction manual—it's a historical analysis of a tactic that has shaped social movements from the industrial revolution to the present day. Razer approaches the subject with scholarly rigor while never losing sight of the human stories behind the headlines: the desperate, the committed, and the conflicted who chose to act outside the law in pursuit of change.