Discover the history of knives and daggers through the ages. Features stunning photography, fascinating biographical information, and stunning photographs.

Warfare of the early modern period is associated with the start of the widespread use of gunpowder and the development of suitable weapons to use the explosive, including artillery and handguns; for this reason the era is also referred to as the age of gunpowder warfare (a concept introduced by Michael Roberts in the 1950s). Shock weapons that extend or enhance the deadly force of the humans at close contact. These would include: clubs, axes, tomahawks, knives, swords, sabres, spears, halberds, and pikes. The most important surviving shock weapon today is the bayonet, although some might say it is a shovel doing double duty. Missile weapons that are hurled or projected over various distances to inflict destruction upon the enemy: slingshots, boomerangs, javelins, bows and arrows, crossbows, ballistas, catapults, and Greek fire. This book has been written keeping in view the requirements of undergraduate and postgraduate students and research scholars in the area of weapons and warfare and Military history.

This volume presents the history of sharp-edged weapons with a directory of over 350 examples from Medieval rondels to the knives of World War II.

Whether a side-street skirmish or an all-out war, fight scenes bring action to the pages of every kind of fiction. But a poorly done or unbelievable fight scene can ruin a great book in an instant. In Fight Write you'll learn practical tips, terminology, and the science behind crafting realistic fight scenes for your fiction. Broken up into "Rounds," trained fighter and writer Carla Hoch guides you through the many factors you'll need to consider when developing battles and brawls. • In Round 1, you will consider how the Who, When, Where, and Why questions affect what type of fight scene you want to craft. • Round 2 delves into the human factors of biology (think fight or flight and adrenaline) and psychology (aggression and response to injuring or killing another person). • Round 3 explores different fighting styles that are appropriate for different situations: How would a character fight from a prone position versus being attacked in the street? What is the vocabulary used to describe these styles? • Round 4 considers weaponry and will guide you to select the best weapon for your characters, including nontraditional weapons of opportunity, while also thinking about the nitty-gritty details of using them. • In Round 5, you'll learn how to accurately describe realistic injuries sustained from the fights and certain weapons, and what kind of injuries will kill a character or render them unable to fight further. By taking into account where your character is in the world, when in history the fight is happening, what the character's motivation for fighting is, and much more, you'll be able write fight scenes unique to your plot and characters, all while satisfying your reader's discerning eye.

In the study of unconventional warfare, few names carry as much weight as Michael D. Echanis. The shadowy hand-to-hand combat pioneer died under mysterious circumstances, but before meeting a violent, fiery death in an unexplained plane crash in Nicaragua, he penned Knife Self-Defence for Combat, the definitive guide to controlling and disarming a knife attacker and a must-have for any paramilitary operative. Previously unavailable to the general public on the open market, this modern mercenary's favorite contains more than 30 fully illustrated techniques.

Lavishly illustrated and loaded with stellar examples of helmets, shields, swords, crossbows, firearms, and more from the magnificent collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art, this volume traces the history of European arms and armor from antiquity through the 18th century. Published to celebrate the recent refurbishment of the museum's popular Armor Court, Arms & Armor explores such themes as medieval warfare, tournaments, the process of making and decorating armor, and the Renaissance culture of arms. It also provides a discussion of various forms of weapons. The museum's finest works -- all newly restored -- were specially photographed for the book's large colorplates and searching details. In addition, paintings, tapestries, and engravings show how the objects were used and worn.

Contemporary knifemakers are far more daring than their counterparts from as recently as a generation ago. This amazing gallery features a dizzying array of styles, from ones that demonstrate simple elegance to others that feature over-the-top embellishment.

This awesomely illustrated and factual account sheds light on medieval warfare, as well as their weapons, armor, siege engines, and much more.

This book teaches, Military, Police, Civilian Knife Combatives methods. 318 pages * Over 1,400+ how-to photos * Standing to the ground, from grip-to-grip, situations to scenarios, the most comprehensive knife book on combatives you will find anywhere. Since 1996, each year, I've taught combatives in 40 cities in 13 allied countries and examined the performances of thousands of soldiers, police and citizens. I have been a paid consultant for The U.S. Army, the Navy, the Air Force and the Marines. Plus, I am an avid, lifelong, obsessed student of crime, violence and military history. Through the years, all this has given me a certain unique perspective about edged-weapon combat, human learning and individual, athletic performance.The "knife" is often trained haphazardly and ignorantly with over-simplistic, dueling practice or endless, artsy, looping drills, or worse, totally ignored. Then, vital parts of it, such as knife ground fighting are often omitted, or treated like sporty, high school wrestling matches. "As a police officer, both Military and in Texas, people have died in my hands, arms and before my eyes. As victims of the knife, I have had to investigate their woundings, maimings and deaths. I have arrested these attackers in the act or hunted them down afterward. I have been to dozens of intense Police, Assault and Violent Death Schools conducted by leading forensics specialists from around the world. "Military, police, martial arts and the aware citizenry - I am all of these things, yet none of these things. While each group knows things about fighting, survival, crime, war and violence, no one group captures the essence of knife combat in this mixed-weapon world, or matches it with fast-breaking, training psychologies, physical methodologies and cutting edge tactics and strategies. I bridge this gap. I assimilate and organize. We evolve to face the cunning criminal and the enemy soldier. Inside a continuum of weapons, we use the knife to save our life and our way of life." - Hock