Much of the inspiration for the book, as well as the term "monkeywrenching", came from Edward Abbey's 1975 novel The Monkey Wrench Gang.

The Fox became infamous after dumping a bucket of said toxic waste upon the desk of a Stone Container Corporation executive in Chicago.

[2] Much of the actual content for Ecodefense came from the "Dear Ned Ludd" column in the Earth First!

This book was banned in Australia, gazetted in 1992 as "refused classification" and a prohibited import.

Bill Haywood joined Dave Foreman as editor for the second and subsequent editions.