I wonder if this book gave people a skewed view of what anarchism is, or if it stemmed from the colloquial usage of 'anarchy', i.e mindless violence and chaotic lawlessness.
Bakunin, Proudhon, Kropotkin and Bookchin have nicer books on anarchism in my opinion.
His foreword to the book makes clear that he doesn't mean anarchist in the left-wing sense. If anything he sounds more like aspects of contemporary militia culture, a kind of patriotic American restorationism. An excerpt:
If the real people of America, the silent majority, are going to survive, they must educate themselves. That is the purpose of this book. [...] If the people of the United States do not protect themselves against the fascists, capitalists, and communists, they will not be around much longer. [...] I do not particularly like any form of government but, if the majority of the people seem to think that they are incapable of governing themselves and want a government, then I think the principles the United States was born with are about the best there are. So now revolution comes to mean revitalization, bringing America back to where she was two hundred years ago. [...] I hope that, by the time the two hundredth anniversary of The First American Revolution rolls around, we will be able to look back at the sixties and early seventies as a dark era in the great history of a free nation.
I'm not sure it's given people a skewed view per se; it's just a product of its time: late 60s, early 70s. This kind of pseudo-academic grassroots stuff was en vogue.
I would argue that it likely devolves into statism, if "devolve" is the correct term.
Not even most anarchists want "mindless violence and chaotic lawlessness," rather they simply want to opt out of certain laws and legal responsibilities.
I don't think that's true; social anarchists generally regard hierarchy and unjust authority as inherently something to oppose. It is the abolishment of law and legal responsibilities, not just opting out. It's rejecting the entire concept of them.
Bakunin, Proudhon, Kropotkin and Bookchin have nicer books on anarchism in my opinion.