"The Sentiment of the Sword" is a historical book on the art of sword fighting by the British explorer, writer and soldier Sir Francis Burton. He describes the history of the blade from its use by ancient civilizations to more recent times, of which he states that, "Our great-grandfathers wore swords by their sides, and all gentlemen learned to use them." Burton draws on his experiences as a soldier and his travels to many parts of the world, including Asia, Africa, and the Americas.

"The Sentiment of the Sword" is a historical book on the art of sword fighting by the British explorer, writer and soldier Sir Francis Burton. He describes the history of the blade from its use by ancient civilizations to more recent times, of which he states that, "Our great-grandfathers wore swords by their sides, and all gentlemen learned to use them." Burton draws on his experiences as a soldier and his travels to many parts of the world, including Asia, Africa, and the Americas.

The followup to his beloved debut collection Beauty Was the Case that They Gave Me, Mark Leidner's Returning the Sword to the Stone is simultaneously profound and irreverent, in the same way that the world is flat as we walk and round as we live. "A child surprised that a neon sign / isn't hot the first time they touch one / knows how it feels as an adult to achieve one's goals" states the speaker of "Youth Is A Fugitive" and this sentiment is one of the central precepts of Returning the Sword to the Stone. Congealing directly off the page, these are poems that only Mark Leidner could have written.

The most detailed and comprehensive treatise on swordsmanship ever written, Gerard Thibault's Academy of the Sword offers an extraordinary glimpse into a forgotten landscape of ideas, in which Pythagorean sacred geometry illuminated the lethal realities of rapier combat to create one of the Western world's only thoroughly documented esoteric martial arts. Translated by the widely respected occultist and scholar John Michael Greer, this stunningly illustrated and precisely detailed manual of Renaissance swordsmanship is a triumphant document of Renaissance culture-as well as a practical manual of a martial art that can still be studied and practiced today.

“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 With a new Preface by the author Napoleon fenced. So did Shakespeare, Karl Marx, Grace Kelly, and President Truman, who as a schoolboy would practice fencing with Bess—his future wife— when the two of them returned home from school. Lincoln was a canny dueler. Ignatius Loyola challenged a man to a duel for denying Christ’s divinity (and won). Less successful, but no less enthusiastic, was Mussolini, who would tell his wife he was “off to get spaghetti,” their code to avoid alarming the children. 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. Praise for By the Sword “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 “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 “Irresistible . . . extraordinary . . . vivid and hugely enjoyable.”—The Economist “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)

As the "Trophy Chase" again sets sail, trouble returns in the form of pirate Scat Wilkins and a new Hezzan with diabolical designs on Nearing Vast. Adding salt to the wound, Panna is imprisoned by Prince Mather. Will Packer be able to rescue his ship, his bride, and the kingdom?