Book

The book of the sword : a history of daggers, sabers, and scimitars from ancient times to the modern day / Richard Francis Burton.

Burton, Richard Francis, Sir, 1821-1890 (Author).

Summary:

“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.

Record details

ISBN: 9781626364011
ISBN: 162636401X
Physical Description: xxvi, 309 pages : illustrations ; 21 cm
Publisher: New York, NY : Skyhorse, [2014]

Content descriptions

General Note:	Originally published: London : Chatto and Windus, 1884.
Bibliography, etc. Note:	Includes bibliographical references (pages 281-289) and index.
Formatted Contents Note:	Preamble: On the Origin of Weapons -- Man's s First Weapons-The Stone and the Stick. The Earliest Ages of Weapons. The Ages of Wood, of Bone, and of Horn -- The Weapons of the Age of Wood: The Boomerang and the Sword of Wood; Of Stone, and of Wood and Stone Combined -- The Proto-Chalcitic or Copper Age of Weapons -- The Second Chalcitic Age of Alloys-Bronze, Brass, Etc.: The Axe and the Sword -- The Proto-Sideric or Early Iron Age of Weapons -- The Sword: What is it? -- The Sword in Ancient Egypt and in Modern Africa -- The Sword in Khita-Land, Palestine and Canaan; Phoenicia and Carthage; Jewry, Cyprus, Troy, and Etruria -- The Sword in Babylonia, Assyria and Persia, and Ancient India -- The Sword in Ancient Greece: Homer; Hesiod and Herodotus: Mycenæ -- The Sword in Ancient Rome; The Legion and the Gladiator -- The Sword Amongst the Barbarians (Early Roman Empire).