Jeff Cooper is a legend, and for good reason. His teaching on how to shoot personal small arms has fundamentally altered the way those who make a living carrying a gun use their weapons. If you've seen a police officer shooting with both hands on the gun—that's thanks to Col. Cooper (he was a full-bird colonel in the USMC).



To call this book a memoir, or a book about guns, or about shooting, would be an understatement. It is all of those things but is much more. A loosely organized collection of

Jeff Cooper is a legend, and for good reason. His teaching on how to shoot personal small arms has fundamentally altered the way those who make a living carrying a gun use their weapons. If you've seen a police officer shooting with both hands on the gun—that's thanks to Col. Cooper (he was a full-bird colonel in the USMC).



To call this book a memoir, or a book about guns, or about shooting, would be an understatement. It is all of those things but is much more. A loosely organized collection of brief essays, “To Ride, Shoot Straight, and Speak the Truth” is a distillation of Cooper's philosophies and teachings on subjects ranging from personal defense to the offensive employment of small arms to big game hunting.



The first part deals with topics of personal defense, ranging from the philosophy of protecting oneself to proper employment of bodyguards to residential architecture. Cooper mourns the change in attitudes that has taken place in the last fifty years where we (collectively) have gone from a country proud of our weapons and ready to stand up for our rights to a country where gun owners are viewed with suspicion and we are expected to be quiet victims. He talks about the lifestyle and attitude of a fighter—of someone who is willing to protect those around him. This section is packed with useful ideas and a simple philosophy of being better men and women. Cooper's work “Principles of Personal Defense” goes into more detail on the ideas of attitude and doctrine that he explores in this part.



The second part deals exclusively with the pistol, explaining that this is a gun you wear, not carry, and its use as an almost exclusively defensive weapon. In addition to general tactical ideas, Cooper explains the basics of effective handgun shooting.



The third part deals with Cooper's personal love: The rifle. He explains how the rifle can be effectively employed, principles of shooting it, and talks at length about ideal rifle setups. He finished with a chapter on using a shotgun for defensive purposes (he considers it to be a supremely effective tool in this role) and a chapter suggesting the use of a .22 rimfire sniper rifle for riot control—taking out the leaders, silently and from a distance, by winging them but not killing them.



The fourth part of this book is a lengthly exploration of hunting and is almost entirely memoir. Cooper tells stories of great big game hunts in Africa and North America. Gripping stories filled with observations on how to hunt well and what rifle and cartridge combinations work well.



Overall, this is a fantastic work and well worth reading. Cooper has an engaging, small-town writing style that is at once believable and friendly. His tactical recommendations are backed with solid experience and have been proven time and time again in the past few decades Cooper has taught in. Definitely a recommend on this book.



EDIT: After reading some other reviews, I feel the need to comment on Cooper's personality and his particularly controversial positions on some issues. Cooper was a World War II veteran and a true southern gentleman. He came from a particular place and time in history, and when reading his works, one must remember this. He holds some viewpoints that might be considered racist, and he certainly has some strong things to say about women's role in society, the military, and law enforcement. These positions are completely out of step with today's world but entirely understandable coming from his background. Even though we may disagree with his statements in these areas or even find them offensive, they don't spoil the rest of his work. His discussion of defensive tactics are not predicated on his beliefs about women; his stories of African adventure are not spoiled by his old-fashioned sentiments. So don't read this book if you can't filter out useful truths (which there a lot of) from anachronistic belief systems (of which there is comparatively little, although it is pervasive).