PDFs of animal-rights books available online?

[Darunia]

I'm constantly looking for PDFs of animal-rights books, because I'm broke and my library system doesn't carry a great selection. So any would be good. But in particular, I'm looking for:

The Politics of Total Liberation by Steve Best
Animals and War edited by Anthony Nocella

[brimstoneSalad]

That's a good question. I know there are some online digital libraries; you might try there, but I don't think they're totally free and they may not carry those.

I wouldn't recommend Best or Nocella, though, since they're extremists among vegans and don't represent pragmatism and effective legal activism.

This is a great read:
https://ccc.farmsanctuary.org/be-a-better-advocate/read-essays-and-books/effectiveadvocacy/

The animals are suffering and can't afford for us to use ineffective means like violence and property destruction (as emotionally gratifying as they may be), which only increases the resistance to animal rights and makes people more hostile to veganism. We need to calm our anger and frustration and direct it into positive and friendly outreach, and direct it into science and technological innovation that can win on the market.

I know raging against the machine and doing whatever damage that's possible to those harming animals feels right, but when we look at the outcomes, the efficacy is very low and it frequently just ends up getting people who could be good activists put in jail, and motivating legislators to pass more laws against animal advocacy which make it even harder for the rest to do good.

You'll do a hundred times more good handing out leaflets for an afternoon than breaking into a research lab, taking the animals, and/or setting it on fire. The latter may even cause more harm by hurting other animal activism groups due to the social and government reaction, and sending those labs to other countries where there's less welfare legislation. And the former is both physically easier and less likely to get you arrested.

Best and Nocella have a very skewed view of the history of social movements. They think violent means are the only that will work, and they're just wrong about a lot of things. Veganism only started to take off and go mainstream when it shifted to a marketable force and civil advocacy.

I would recommend instead the works of Peter Singer, like Animal Liberation (his most famous book), and The Most Good You Can Do (one of his most recent books). I haven't read all of them, but any you can find are likely good choices. It will be much easier to find those books in your library network.

If you're looking for free content, there's a wealth of good content on the internet, both on blogs and even on this forum.

Here's a list of essays and books:
https://ccc.farmsanctuary.org/be-a-better-advocate/read-essays-and-books/

Essential Essays

Effective Advocacy: Stealing from the Corporate Playbook
https://ccc.farmsanctuary.org/be-a-better-advocate/read-essays-and-books/effectiveadvocacy/
by Bruce Friedrich
A point-by-point “how to” guide for being more persuasive when interacting with others.

A Meaningful Life: Making a Real Difference in Today’s World
https://ccc.farmsanctuary.org/be-a-better-advocate/read-essays-and-books/ameaningfullife/
by Matt Ball, Senior Manager for Engagement and Outreach, Farm Sanctuary
A highly influential essay on what it means to be an effective, and happy, lifelong advocate for animals – an inspiring and thought-provoking read.

Want to be a More Effective Advocate? Put the (Vegan) Shoe on the Other Foot
https://ccc.farmsanctuary.org/be-a-better-advocate/read-essays-and-books/want-to-be-a-more-effective-advocate-put-the-vegan-shoe-on-the-other-foot/
by Caryn Ginsberg
A social marketing approach to animal advocacy
that can help us better understand and
better reach our audience.

How Vegan? Ingredients vs. Results
https://ccc.farmsanctuary.org/be-a-better-advocate/read-essays-and-books/how-vegan-ingredients-vs-results/
by Matt Ball, Senior Manager for Engagement and Outreach, Farm Sanctuary
A look at the contrast between striving for personal purity and striving to help the most animals possible, and what that means for animal advocates.

Who Wants to be an Animal Millionaire?
https://ccc.farmsanctuary.org/be-a-better-advocate/read-essays-and-books/who-wants-to-be-an-animal-millionaire/
by Erik Marcus, author, Vegan: The New Ethics of Eating
A short, inspiring column on the incredible potential each of us has to help animals.

Brilliant Books


The Animal Activist’s Handbook
http://www.animaladvocacybook.com/
by Matt Ball and Bruce Friedrich
Required reading for anyone who wants to help farm animals; arms you with the insight, strategy, and techniques to become a much more polished advocate. The Animal Activist’s Handbook “punches way above its weight. Rarely have so few pages contained so much intelligence and good advice. Get it, read it, and act on it. Now.”
–Peter Singer, Princeton University professor of bioethics and author of Animal Liberation

The Accidental Activist
http://theaccidentalactivist.weebly.com/
by Matt Ball
“Over the past two decades, Matt Ball has had a singularly profound influence on the animal protection movement in the United States. Matt’s reasoned, eloquent focus on having the biggest possible impact with the greatest possible efficiency has resonated with tens of thousands of individuals, and created fundamental, pragmatic change on every level of the movement.”
–Dr. Michael Greger

Animal Impact: Secrets Proven to Achieve Results and Move the World
http://priorityventures.com/animal-impact/
by Caryn Ginsberg
Required reading for animal advocates; helps you understand how your audience thinks and how to motivate them to take action to help animals. “We need to blend passion with professionalism, and this book is going to help get us there.” – – –Wayne Pacelle, President and CEO, The Humane Society of the United States

etc.

And don't miss the Vegan Strategist:

[veganstrategist][/veganstrategist]

[Darunia]

The Steven Best one is literally like $100. I've read it before and enjoyed it. But I would love to read it again!

[brimstoneSalad]

The Steven Best one is literally like $100. I've read it before and enjoyed it. But I would love to read it again!

That's crazy. Is it a textbook? Maybe he makes his students buy it.
Another reason not to like Steve Best, he's a little greedy! If a book is promoting activism, shouldn't it be sold at a more reasonable price so it can help people?

Most of the books I referenced can be bought for the $15 range.

[Darunia]

It's that publisher. For some reason all the books in their animal rights line are like $100.