Books read in 2023: No. 34 -- Schools and Masters of Fencing

by Egerton Castle

Started: Nov. 3

Finished: Nov. 21

Notes: Of late I've been reading a fair amount about swords in history and I felt like continuing my reading trend for at least one more book. Originally published in 1885, this book covers the periods from the Middle Ages through the 18th Century.

Mini review: This turns out not to be a fully comprehensive book on the fencing masters of the period, for the author's information comes from a particular large collection of books available to him at the time of writing, and I personally know of at least a few fencing masters who are note even named within this book. That does not mean this book does not have its uses, nor that is was not interesting, for it did cover plenty of fencing masters including some well known to me. It's worth picking up if you are interested in the history of the sword, and I found the author's personal prejudices related to the sword to be interesting and even sometimes amusing, for he seemed to find perfection in the small sword of the 18th and 19th Centuries (weapons which I personally tend to despise) while he had little love for the earlier rapier and downright disdain for even earlier weapons such as the longsword.