J. P. (James Perry) Cole

J. P. Cole, identified in library and public-domain records as James Perry Cole and born in 1889, is best known for Military Instructors Manual, a training guide first published in 1917. The book was written with Oliver Schoonmaker and reflects the urgent, hands-on style of military instruction from that period.

Reliable sources found for this author are quite limited, so only a few biographical details can be confirmed with confidence. Catalog and authority-style records support the name James Perry Cole, the birth year 1889, and the association with Military Instructors Manual; one record also gives a death year of 1977.

Because so little personal information is readily documented online, Cole remains more visible through his surviving work than through a detailed public biography. For readers interested in wartime manuals, his writing offers a direct glimpse into the instructional culture of the First World War era.