First edition (1943) of the manual of hand-to-hand combat developed by Rex Applegate (then a major) for the American Army. A simple but effective system that formed the basis for special forces training (for example, FMFRP 12-80 U.S. Marine Corps). This the best and longest-selling book on close combat in history. Reprinted and in current use by the U.S. Marine Corps as an official training manual, it details methods of self-defense, offensive close combat, combat shooting and crowd-control techniques in riot situations. Colonel Rex Applegate is widely regarded as the father of modern close combat and combat shooting, and this book is considered the standard by which all other books on the subject are judged.