9780333901922 - By the Sword: Gladiators, Musketeers, Duelists, S de Cohen, Richard (8 résultats)

Etat : Good. Ships from the UK. Used book that is in clean, average condition without any missing pages.

Paperback. Etat : Very Good. The secret history of the fiercely beautiful art of fencing.Though fencing is seen as a graceful and noble sport, it is not without its seamy sides. By the Sword traces the darkness behind the mask, from the sport's early brutal days to the more civilised, 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 ever seen was an anti-Soviet spy. Richard Cohen explains how these disparate people came to be bonded by the same sport as well introducing other aficionados such as Henry VIIIth, 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. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

A definitive study of the history of sword wielding. 4th impression . A few light scuffs to edges of text block otherwise VG in VG dustjacket.

1st edn. 8vo. Original gilt lettered brown cloth (Fine), dustwrapper (Fine in protective cover, not price clipped). Pp. xxiv + 519, illus with b&w photos (no inscriptions).

Hardcover. Etat : Near Fine. Etat de la jaquette : Near Fine. Jacket after Tancrede Bastet (illustrateur). 1st Edition. First edition, subsequent impression with number line '5 7 9 8 6 4'. Some very slight edge wear to top and bottom of jacket and spine, corners very slightly bruised, not price clipped (£20.00), no inscriptions, internally clean tight and square, overall a vg++ copy. 519pp, illustrated. The art and science of sword fighting goes back almost to the dawn of civilization and has been an obsession for much of mankind throughout recorded history. From the Roman arena to feudal Japan and from the duellists of Europe to the development of modern day Olympic fencing, Richard Cohen traces the course of swordsmanship with wit and erudition in a fascinating and wonderfully discursive account. Packed with anecdote, superbly written and built on a solid foundation of historical research, this is a tribute to a deadly but beautiful skill, the mastery of which for centuries defined a man.

Hardback. Etat : Near Fine. Etat de la jaquette : Near Fine. First UK edition first printing hardback, 2002, with price-clipped jacket. In overall near-fine used condition with only slight signs of age, handling and storage - dust jacket a touch rubbed; boards clean and crisp. Binding tight and appears almost unread. Internally clean, no annotation or inscriptions - ownership signature neat to front endpaper; text and illustrations bright and clear throughout. Photographs available. Not an old library book.

Etat : Very good.

Hardcover. Etat : Fine. xxiv, 519p.