Richard F. Burton

The Book of the Sword (eBook, ePUB)

With 293 Illustrations

• Format: ePub

Produktbeschreibung

"The history of the sword is the history of humanity." With these words, British author, Victorian scholar, and world traveler Richard Burton begins his eloquent and exceptionally erudite history of the "Queen of Weapons." Spanning the centuries and a wide range of cultures, Burton's rich and elegant prose illuminates the sword as both armament and potent symbol. For nearly all peoples of the world, the sword embodied the spirit of chivalry, symbolized justice and martyrdom and represented courage and freedom. In battle, it served universally as a deadly offensive weapon. Drawing on a wealth of literary, archaeological, anthropological, linguistic, and other sources, the author traces the sword's origins, from its birth as a charred and sharpened stick, through its diverse stages of development, to its full growth in the early Roman Empire. Recounting man's long association with this weapon, the author describes in brilliant detail: • The ages of wood, bone and born • The appearance of stone swords and exotic weapons such as the boomerang • The ages of copper and alloys such as bronze and brass used in producing the long, narrow blades of rapiers • The Iron Age during which the Viking sword of carbonized iron took shape a weapon whose form would set the standard for the next thousand years. Enhanced by nearly 300 excellent line drawings, the text provides an incredible wealth of detailed data about the sword and its variations: sabre, broadsword, cutlass, scimitar, rapier, foil, and a host of other arms, including dirks, daggers, throwing knives, flails, and much more. Military and social historians, scholars and students of weaponry, as well as armchair adventurers will find this volume a fascinating, abundantly illustrated and highly readable account of this potent symbol of power.

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Produktdetails

• Verlag: Guilford Publications
• Seitenzahl: 336
• Erscheinungstermin: 21. August 2012
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9780486142319
• Artikelnr.: 40022172

Autorenporträt

Sir Richard F. Burton

Inhaltsangabe

CHAPTER FOREWARD LIST OF AUTHORITIES I. PREAMBLE: ON THE ORIGIN OF WEAPONS
II. "MAN'S FIRST WEAPONS-THE STONE AND THE STICK. THE EARLIEST AGES OF
WEAPONS. THE AGES OF WOOD, OF BONE, AND OF HORN" III. "THE WEAPONS OF THE
AGE OF WOOD : THE BOOMERANG AND THE SWORD OF WOOD; OF STONE, AND OF WOOD
AND STONE COMBINED" IV. THE PROTO-CHALCITIC OR COPPER AGE OF WEAPONS V.
"THE SECOND CHALCITIC AGE OF ALLOYS-BRONZE, BRASS, ETC : THE AXE AND THE
SWORD" VI. THE PROTO-SIDERIC OR EARLY IRON AGE OF WEAPONS VII. THE SWORD :
WHAT IS IT? VIII. THE SWORD IN ANCIENT EGYPT AND IN MODERN AFRICA IX. "THE
SWORD IN KHITA-LAND, PALESTINE AND CANAAN; PHOENICIA AND CARTHAGE; JEWRY,
CYPRUS, TROY, AND ETRURIA" X. "THE SWORD IN BABYLONIA, ASSYRIA AND PERSIA,
AND ANCIENT INDIA" XI. THE SWORD IN ANCIENT GREECE : HOMER ; HESIOD AND
HERODOTUS: MYCENÆ XII. THE SWORD IN ANCIENT ROME: THE LEGION AND THE
GLADIATOR XIII. THE SWORD AMONGST THE BARBARIANS (EARLY ROMAN EMPIRE)
CONCLUSION INDEX