Once you try translating your theoretic insights into practical exercises, however, you quickly realize the difficulty of obtaining a truly accurate understanding of the hands-on nuts and bolts of any given system that has survived on paper only. And there is a more than slight tendency to fill the gaps by injecting elements that might be as alien to the original system as a bunjee cord holding together the engine casing of a vintage Model T.

Terry Brown's valiant attempt to reconstruct English Martial Arts relies heavily on the works of Silver and Swetnam. And he does an extraordinary job to fill the often dry and schoolmasterly copy of the two venerable gentlemen with life, translating the idiomatic originals into understandable, thought-through routines for modern scholars of the sword.

Due to the lack of contemporary images, Brown's photographic sequences often borrow from later and indeed exclusively English sources. Some positions resemble plates from James Miller's 1737 Treatise on Broadsword so closely, it is hard to shake off a feeling of permanent deja vu.

Other stances, however, appear vaguely off-center to eyes used to western swordplay techniques. But they may in fact reflect elements of Brown's own kung-fu background. All in all, the sequences may not do full justice to the actual process of movement -- a problem the providers of iconographic back-up to fighting manuals have struggled until the invention of motion pictures...

There's only one stance I can seriously take issue with, that of the true gardant or hanging guard. The men in the puffy shirts featured in the photos keep the points of their broadswords pointing backwards, all but destroying the medium-distance threat immanent in this guard, as well as the actionable advantages for defense and offense that come with keeping the point directed at the opponent. No European broadsword or backswording system I am aware off, including Angelo's Highland Broadsword practice of 1798/99, uses this technique for the hanging guard. (But then, I've been known to be wrong on occasion.)

The research and execution of the book is rock-solid, however. (Cynics and sticklers for detail like myself would have appreciated a more thorough job of annotating, though, just to be able to look up quotes and claims for ourselves.) This is an excellent book and an enjoyable read!