"Like swordplay itself, By the Sword is elegant, accurate, romantic,
and full of brio--the definitive study, hugely readable, of man's most
deadly art."--Simon Winchester
With a new Preface by the author
Napoleon fenced. So did Shakespeare, Karl Marx, Grace Kelly, and
President Truman, who as a schoolboy would practice fencing with
Bess--his future wife-- when the two of them returned home from school.
Lincoln was a canny dueler. Ignatius Loyola challenged a man to a duel
for denying Christ's divinity (and won). Less successful, but no less
enthusiastic, was Mussolini, who would tell his wife he was "off to get
spaghetti," their code to avoid alarming the children. By the Sword is
an epic history of sword fighting--a science, an art, and, for many, a
religion that began at the dawn of civilization in ancient Egypt and has
been an obsession for mankind ever since. With wit and insight, Richard
Cohen gives us an engrossing history of the world via the sword.
Praise for By the Sword
"Touché! While scrupulous and informed about its subject, Richard
Cohen's book is about more than swordplay. It reads at times like an
alternative social history of the West."--Sebastian Faulks
"In writing By the Sword, [Cohen] has shown that he is as skilled
with the pen as he is with the sword."**--*The New York Times
"Irresistible . . . extraordinary . . . vivid and hugely
enjoyable."--The Economist
"A virtual encyclopedia on the subject of sword fighting."--San
Francisco Chronicle
"Literate, learned, and, beg pardon, razor-sharp . . . a pleasure for
practitioners, and a rewarding entertainment for the armchair
swashbuckler."--Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
