Rights determination
The Cross and the Switchblade by David Wilkerson (with John Sherrill and Elizabeth Sherrill) was first published in 1963 by Bernard Geis Associates (distributed by Random House). It is not a public-domain work: it remains under copyright in the United States, it has never been out of print, and it continues to be sold today by Chosen Books (a division of Baker Publishing Group) and other licensed publishers in dozens of languages. Its authors' estates and successor ministries (including World Challenge, Inc. and Teen Challenge) actively hold and exercise rights in the work.
Before building this Web Book, UECF.NET checked the copy of the 1963 first edition held at the Internet Archive (archive.org/details/crossswitchblade00wilk). That copy is marked “Access-restricted-item: true” and offers no downloadable full text — it is available only through controlled digital lending, a library-style loan of a copyrighted work, not an open or public-domain text. This confirmed that the book could not legally be reproduced here.
Because the full text is not legally available for reproduction on UECF.NET, this Web Book is instead an original UECF.NET study companion: a chapter-by-chapter guide with our own summaries, key points, related Scripture, and discussion questions, in the same format the site already uses for other in-copyright works (see, for example, our study companion to Spiritual Depression by D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones). No sentence of Wilkerson's, Sherrill's, or the publisher's original text is reproduced on this site.
Scripture quotations
Scripture quotations on this site are from the King James Version (KJV, first published 1611/1769), which is in the public domain in the United States. Chapter and verse references are also linked to the UECF.NET New King James Version (NKJV) Bible reader at uecf.net/nkjv. The New King James Version® is copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson; it is used here only through links to UECF.NET's own existing NKJV reader, not by quoting NKJV text on this page.
Cover art
The cover art for this Web Book is an original design created for UECF.NET. It is not a reproduction of any published book cover, jacket, or publisher artwork for The Cross and the Switchblade.
Where to read the actual book
See Further Reading & Legal Editions for links to currently available, legally licensed editions of the complete book, and to borrow a scanned copy of the original edition through Internet Archive's Open Library lending program.
Questions about this rights determination, or a rights holder wishing to contact UECF.NET, can reach us at info@uecf.net.