"One of the best scenes in the book is where the anarchist mixes the ingredients for nitroglycerine in the kitchen sink, knowing if he does it even slightly wrongly he'll blow himself up – as many anarchists did. I went to a lot of trouble to research that scene. Then I realised that if I said exactly how the bomb was made, some dumb kid would probably try it in the chemistry lab at school. So I had to take out some of the details."

--- Ken Follet on The Man from St. Petersburg

Oh to be young and foolhardy! (This reminds me of the 20/20 report I once saw on stupid kids trying to imitate the Nike ad by jumping over a moving car with the aid of Nike sports shoes. I think a kid died that way. The rest got maimed.)