By the Sword: A History of Gladiators, Musketeers, Duelists, Samurai, Swashbucklers and Points of Honour - Hardcover

Richard A. Cohen

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0333901924 ISBN 13: 9780333901922

Publisher: Random House, 2002

Synopsis

Though fencing is seen as a graceful and noble sport, it is not without its seamy side. "By the Sword" traces the darkness behind the mask, from the sport'searly brutal days to the more civilized, yet no less dangerous, days of duelling and then to the present day. Abraham Lincoln, Karl Marx and Mussolini were all involved in duels, Hitler gave fencing a special emphasis in his regime and the best fencer the world has even seen as an anti-Soviet spy. Richard Cohen explains how these disparate people came to be bonded by the same sport as well introducing other aficiondados such as Henry VIII, Mozart, Byron and Marcel Marceau. Against this historical tableau, Cohen also delves behind the headlines exposing lurid tales of cheating and blackmail, of murder and strange love affairs, the honour and dishonour of swordmanship and its cultural side from "The Three Musketeers" to "Star Trek". Above all the book portrays the character of fencing - at once graceful, balletic, rough, technically beautiful and fiercely competitive. Richard Cohen traces these subtleties, the passions that it arouses in its players, and explains his personal devotion to this ancient art.

About this title

From the Back Cover

“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

“A vivid and hugely enjoyable pageant of extraordinary tales . . . irresistible.” —The Economist

“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

“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

“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)

“A fascinating story told with literary verve.” —Library Journal (starred review)

From the Inside Flap

"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.

About this edition

• Publisher: Random House
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0333901924
• ISBN 13: 9780333901922
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 304