18 h 56 minAudiobook9 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
Before the sword becomes a symbol, it begins with stone, metal, and the need for an edge.
In The Book of the Sword, Richard Francis Burton traces the blade from sharpened stones to bronze edges and the iron swords of the ancient world. A soldier and trained swordsman, he brings practical knowledge to his history. His question reaches beyond the weapon itself: how does the sword grow from earlier tools, and what does metal make possible?
Burton draws on archaeology, old texts, myths, and word origins as he follows the sword into the classical world. Greeks, Romans, and Celts favour different blades; European sagas and poems give swords a place beyond combat. This opening volume of an unfinished survey offers a wandering, curious exploration rather than a quick, tidy account.
What you’ll discover
- Before the metal blade Follow Burton back to flint knives, stone axes, and spear points.
- What bronze makes possible Discover the place of bronze in Burton’s account of the sword’s early history.
- Blades of the ancient world Explore Burton’s comparisons of the swords carried by Greeks, Romans, and Celts.
- More than a weapon Enter old stories where swords become companions and symbols, not merely tools.
- A swordsman’s curious eye Meet a writer who joins scholarly inquiry with his own experience of weapons.
Who will love it
For readers who love military history, arms and armour, and Victorian scholarship, and anyone curious about Burton himself.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A soldier writes about his weapon
- Before metal, the blade begins in stone
- Bronze and iron change what a sword can be
- Greeks, Romans and Celts favour different blades
- Swords as companions and symbols
- An unfinished survey and how to read it
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The Book of the Sword
by Richard Francis Burton · 1884
From sharpened stone to iron, Burton traces how the sword becomes a weapon and a sign of rank, oath and honour.
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From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 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.
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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.
The author
Richard Francis Burton
1821–1890 · British explorer and travel writer
Sir Richard Francis Burton was a British explorer, army officer, writer and translator. He was born in Torquay, England, in 1821. He served in India and later lived in Trieste as British consul. He published Vikram and the Vampire in 1870 and The Book of the Sword in 1884. He died in Trieste in 1890.
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