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The Book of the Sword: A History of Daggers, Sabers, and Scimitars from Ancient Times to the Modern Day
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“The history of the sword,” the author writes in his introduction, “is the history of humanity.” For centuries, the sword has been a symbol of power, strength, liberty, and courage. In the Middle Ages, the image of a sword was used to signify the word of God. Nearly every culture in history has forged blades from stone or steel to fight in times of battle and protect in times of peace.In this groundbreaking work, Richard Francis Burton, explorer, translator, scholar, and swordsman, draws on a wealth of linguistic, archaeological, and literary sources to trace the millennia-old history of the sword. From its earliest days as a charred, sharpened stick to the height of craftsmanship in the modern era, the sword has been the weapon of choice for warriors of all stripes.In eloquent, captivating prose, Burton describes:• Dirks• Daggers• Knives• Sabers• Cutlasses• The origin of the weapon• The weapons of the age of wood• The Copper Age of weapons• The Iron Age of weapons• The sword in ancient Egypt• The sword in ancient Greece• And moreNearly three hundred line drawings enhance Burton’s richly detailed text. Any reader of history or student of weaponry will find this book a fascinating, highly enjoyable read.
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Product details
Paperback: 336 pages
Publisher: Skyhorse; 1 edition (January 2, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 162636401X
ISBN-13: 978-1626364011
Product Dimensions:
0.6 x 0.1 x 0.8 inches
Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
Average Customer Review:
3.9 out of 5 stars
41 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
#1,311,219 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
This was... not quite at all what I was expecting. Be advised, this book is seriously heavy reading. If you are comfortable with your abilities in Greek and Latin, you'll be right at home. I didn't investigate enough before purchasing, or I'd have noted that this book was written and published in 1884.There is no way I could adequately review this book better than a previous reviewer, Miroku Nemeth. My three star review is an attempt to give a neutral rating - I didn't love it, and I didn't hate it. I just discovered that it was not the book for me.
This is an odd book to review. It is an excellent window into the mind of Richard Burton because it is his thoughts on one of his favorite subjects. The book is a history of swords from the dawn of time to the late 19th century. That's a tall order and in his usual way, Burton tackles it head on with digressions and footnotes. Anyone familiar with his translation of 10001 Night's will understand.The material itself is an odd lot, covering everything from the swords of Ancient Egypt to Central Africa to the Middle East to India to China to Rome to ...One thing that must be born in mind is that it is a book of its time. At that time, Diffusionism was the height of Sociology and the Burton viewed all cultures as being derived from Egypt. The civilization of the Indus had not been found and Mesopotamian archeology was in its infancy. But it is surprising to read what was known at the time.One final comment: If you are put off by the Politically Incorrect, this is not the book for you. Burton is from his time and not ours. For the 19th century, he is liberal. By today's standards, he is racist. Read this as a window to that time and not to ours.
I purchased this book quite awhile ago...it was hard to find then, but a friend was interested in it so I was happy to find it was available again. If you are interested in or collect swords and are also interested in the history of swords, this is the best book you will find. Excellent. Originally written in 1853 it is very readable and an amazing reference to all sword types. You'll only need this one book if you want the real history about swords and not some new age guesses.I collect swords and it has been invaluable.
I did my thesis for my second MA in English Lit. on Burton (over a decade ago), so, in many ways, I appreciate his writing--which is, well, very erudite, opinionated, and often pedantic in the extreme. This is not a straightforward narrative, a comprehensive text on swords or swordsmanship, or quite like anything you ever have read before if you are not used to Burton’s truly “unique†style. It is claimed that Burton knew 29 languages, and this is probably true. He was an amazing linguist and real scholar, among his many other talents and adventures. It is hard to say you have fully “read†this book unless you have a working knowledge of Latin, Greek, French, Chinese, Sanskrit, Urdu, Arabic (I can claim this with Arabic at least), Farsi, and sundry other languages that he leaves in the original script and untranslated. I have read many of Burton’s books, and had put off reading this for years because it looked very ponderous and convoluted as a text. And it is. I had a bit of hope that it would be interesting nonetheless once you unlock all of that a bit, as he was one of the greatest swordsmen of Europe and this is a topic close to his heart. As Rice writes in his important biography on Burton, “His mastery of the sword became legendary not only among the English but also among the French…..â€If Burton's pedantry (or erudition--but it isn't easy reading either way) doesn't break you, there is a lot to learn in this book, though I am more concerned with the use of weapons than their historical metallurgical composition. Learned and pedantic in the extreme, Burton is most interesting when he actually talks about weapons and their usage, which is a relatively small portion of the book. He very much favors European swordmaking over Japanese, etc., and I find this refreshing, considering how Europeans and Americans lost the knowledge of their own martial arts and let Asian martial arts styles dominate their consciousness. This said, Burton is very thorough in his exploration of the swords of other cultures around the globe, and weighs the relative merits of the weapons objectively. In fact, chapter VIII "The Sword in Ancient Egypt and in Modern Africa" attributes the earliest origins of man, the alphabet, literature, the law, art, science, civilization, and the sword, not to Asia, much less Greece, but to Egypt and the Egyptians, when asserts "the ancient Egyptians were Africans, and pure Africans...." (144). Honestly, this chapter sounds absolutely "Afro-centrist" in many ways, which is something no one would ever accuse Burton of being. He also conceives of a much larger "Misr" than is normally thought--extending more broadly and deeply across Africa and to the sources of the Nile.Burton reasonably questions many narratives of history from the Greeks, who he calls "by virtue of her mighty intellect and her prepondering imagination, 'Graecia mendax.'" He blames these mendacious Greeks for many a lie that still stand in popularity today, such the Persians being led en masse by Xerxes himself to fight against them. "But the life of Hellas is one great "appropriation clause": the Greeks were doughty claimants, childish in their naivete of conceit; they were burglars of others' wits (convey, the wise it call), and they made themselves do all things."Once you have finished with metallurgy, etc. and start discussing the sword proper (in chapter 7), and especially in his chapter on the Egyptian origin of the sword and, well, almost anything, it becomes very interesting. By the way, he remarks again and again on the efficacy of the stabbing sword over the cutting blade--something to ponder. Swords from every corner of the earth and even Sayyedina ‘Ali’s sword, Dhul-Fiqar are mentioned."Burton says some cool things that you will probably not read anywhere else but still make a lot of sense, like his assertion that the “Anglo-Saxon†should be called the “Kelto-Scandanavianâ€.He also makes some errors in the book, like asserting that samurai carried two equal length swords, while, of course, the katana and wakizashi are of differing sizes.Not an easy read, but very interesting on many levels for the scope of history and truly cosmopolitan scholarship (some very much bound to the Victorian Age, but much of contemporary worth as well, for scholars like Burton are extremely rare).If you are interested in Burton’s own fencing skills, there is a great narrative of a match against a sergeant of the French Hussars which can be found on page 167 of Rice.http://books.google.com/books?id=TQ9K-8ZlnycC&pg=PA215&lpg=PA215&dq=In+the+year+1851-1852+I+met+the+late+sir+richard+burton+in+boulogne&source=bl&ots=db_ahh8KWp&sig=IBnpcIsC7ezYZx1dXiCFDEHNx10&hl=en&sa=X&ei=HWfkUZr4J6isjALCvYGIBg&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=In%20the%20year%201851-1852%20I%20met%20the%20late%20sir%20richard%20burton%20in%20boulogne&f=false
This book is so poorly digitized that it is unreadable. Transposed sentences, paragraphs, and words make it impossible to follow. So do not buy this digitized version from Amazon.
An excellent reference work, dated but a very interesting read. I had lost my old copy during a move, so am happy to replace it. Came in new condition. I like the author's style of writing, decidedly "old school". Lots of drawings of the blades discussed. A must have for bladed weapon enthusiasts.
This book is really interesting, it has a lot of Treasure Trove not to mention just illustrations and I barely have scratch the surface on it yet
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