Riassunto
Trama e riassunto di Il libro della spada
A chi è rivolto
For readers who love military history, arms and armour, and Victorian scholarship, and anyone curious about Burton himself.
Che cos’è questo libro
The Book of the Sword is a history of the sword, written by Sir Richard Francis Burton and published in 1884. Burton was an army officer, explorer, linguist and consul, and he was also a trained swordsman who had written manuals on fencing and bayonet drill. He meant this book to be the first stage of a very large survey of the sword across the whole world. Only the opening volume was finished, and it is the one readers have today.
What do you get from it? You get a walk through the early life of the blade, from the first sharpened stones and bronze edges to the iron swords of the ancient world. Burton mixes archaeology, old texts, myth, word origins and his own experience of using weapons. He writes as a practitioner and not only as a scholar. Let us begin with the man himself and the odd, restless way he approaches his subject.
In questo riassunto
- 1A soldier writes about his weaponFree
- 2Before metal, the blade begins in stone
- 3Bronze and iron change what a sword can be
- 4Greeks, Romans and Celts favour different blades
- 5Swords as companions and symbols
- 6An unfinished survey and how to read it
Punto chiave 1 di 6
A soldier writes about his weapon
Richard Burton came to the sword as a working soldier before he came to it as a historian. He served in the army of the East India Company in the 1840s, and later in life he held consular posts in Africa, South America, Syria and finally Trieste, where he died in 1890. During these years he also became known for his journey to Mecca in disguise and for his long travels in Africa.
His own body carried the marks of fighting. In Somalia in 1855 a spear was driven through his face during a night attack on his party. A man who has survived that kind of violence reads about weapons with a particular seriousness. He knows that a blade is not just an object in a museum case but something made to be used by a hand.
Burton also wrote practical works on the subject. He produced a bayonet exercise for the army in the 1850s and a book on sword exercise in the 1870s. These show a mind that wanted to teach how a weapon behaves, how it is held, and why one form of cut or thrust works better than another. The Book of the Sword carries that habit into history.
So the book has a clear voice. It is the voice of an expert who is also a traveller, a translator and a collector of curious facts. He trusts what he has handled and seen, and he is quick to correct scholars who have only read about arms in libraries. That confidence is the first thing to notice, and it explains both the strengths and the quirks of everything that follows.
That’s 1 of 6 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
- Nothing to pay today · Renews every year
- We email you before you pay
- Cancel online in two clicks
Questions about Il libro della spada
What is The Book of the Sword about?
It is a history of the sword from its earliest forerunners in stone and bronze to the iron blades of the ancient world, with attention to how swords were made, used and given meaning.
When was The Book of the Sword written?
Burton published it in 1884. It was meant to be the first of several volumes, but only this opening volume was completed, so it covers the early history of the weapon.
Who was Richard Burton?
Burton was a Victorian soldier, explorer, linguist and consul. He travelled to Mecca in disguise, explored parts of Africa, translated The Arabian Nights and was a trained swordsman who wrote military manuals.
Is The Book of the Sword hard to read?
No. The book follows one clear story, the sword growing from sharpened stones to bronze and iron. Burton writes in a lively voice, as a soldier who has handled weapons, and each part takes one step in that story.
Is The Book of the Sword still accurate today?
It remains useful as a view of the subject and for its practical insight.