This book was originally published in 1993, and I believe it was Ravenwolf’s first book. It has been reprinted many times over the years with updates and some of the more controversial portions removed or changed. This is one of the reasons that there is so much debate over this book.
Some will claim that it is full of dangerous and unethical information, and others will claim that they found nothing of the kind. It all depends on which volume you happen to read. The version I read for this review was published prior to 2000 (I wish I could check the copyright page, but I no longer have this book, so I am going by the year that it was given to me).