This is a good read and should be in everyone's self-defense library.
Pick up this book, read, broaden your mind set and of course when it comes to self-defense and personal protection consult with a lawyer!
Certain books I tend to advise my students to read.
Gavin De Becker's - The Gift of Fear
Rory Miller's - Meditation on Violence
Miyamoto Musashi - Book of Five Ring's
Sun Tzu - The Art of War
and now
Mark MacYoung's - In the Name of Self-Defense: What it Costs. When it's Worth it.
So, after reading it I am all in and feel that you should take a look at it for getting a feel for the issues regarding self-defense and to broaden your perspective.
The good in this book covers Mark's opinion on what is self-defense, what is violence, the road of violence, social violence, asocial violence, etc. There is a lot of information in the book. On many level's a lot more than what I have encountered with other books. So that is a big plus in that the author goes through a lot of details that many people have never considered before. Plus there are some good stories. When talking about violence he get's into threat displays and pre-attack indicators. This is a chapter of the book I thought is very important. Also the road to violence portion of the book takes a look at how violence can go from 0 to 60 so fast especially if you miss the mile markers. I liked that chapter the best.
Definitely get this book in conjunction with: Meditations on Violence and The Gift of Fear to have some balance in your reading. Being a voracious reader this topic is usually pretty dull but Mark makes it actually a fun read in my opinion.
Now, I am endorsing you get this book. However, there are some things I do not like. Personally, I do not like the: Three Brain Model. ie. Human, Monkey and Lizard. I prefer talking about the conscious, unconscious and emotional/emotions and ego. Some times if you get too far down the road and are talking about the Monkey Brain, Lizard Brain then people are going to look at you like your crazy or worse. That is my big issue with the book but..... it does make it interesting to read. So I give Mark that. Plus it is really easy when reading to just substitute in conscious thought, unconscious thought, emotions, ego, etc.
Do not take everything in the book as the only way as this is Mark's interpretation on self-defense. Always consult your local state laws and specifically do so with an attorney who specializes in this area so that they can explain the finer details.
