This book is worthy of a share of your precious reading time. I wouldn't be here telling you about it if I didn't think so. The way I figure, you wouldn't want to hear about a book I thought was poor? You might enjoy a book I did not like, and you might not think one whose virtues I extol is so great, but surely you'd be more inclined to give it a try knowing that someone had liked it. That's why I'm here now.

I hope you'll be convinced to check out The Secret History of the Sword.

There are the usual glowing recommendations from a crew of more or less famous guys gracing the back cover. They are fellows who have special knowledge of swords and fencing. This is, to state the bleeding obvious, why they were asked to entice you to buy the book.

I am not famous, not a guy, and don't have a similar special knowledge, but I, too, recommend The Secret History of the Sword. If I find it interesting and entertaining, then there's proof that the book is for all kinds of readers, not just those who are already initiated into the inner circle.

J. Christoph Amberger, the editor and author of this book, is also the editor and author of the magazine Hammerterz Forum. Some of the material that appears in The Secret History of the Sword has appeared in his magazine.

Amberger provides his readers with an amazing amount of information without being too academic. He approaches the subject with an obvious love for it and with a lot of humor.

He points out that the line from Sir Richard Burton's Book of the Sword, "the history of the sword is the history of mankind," has been used time and time again by historians who were impressed by it.

"I think Burton was only half right. In my opinion, the history of the sword is the history of the Y chromosome," Amberger contends. This gave me a laugh, as well as the feeling that I would be going where no woman has gone before.

Oh yes, this is a manly book. The "Interludes" between chapters tell of events at which the testosterone levels reached astronomical proportions. The author's account of his Schlager Mensur is the one that most amazed me because it took place in my own time, not in times past, which we now take for granted as having been on the whole pretty nasty and bloody. He comments that he could have run out of there (and why he did not), but I can't imagine having walked in there in the first place.

Not only will you read of hair-raising duels, battles, and contests, but of myths and legends that have become fencing lore. Amberger debunks some of the myths that abound concerning the conventions of modern fencing. When he does this, he replaces them with logical reasons for the rules of the game.

In the chapter "The Tools," you are given a picture of what a sword really is and what it is not. (It is not a good substitute for a hammer.) It also clues you in how fighting or sport fencing form must sometimes be modified to suit the weapon, as well as the weapon suiting the activity.

One of the recurring themes of this book is that the history of the sword is not linear. You'll find out just how much crossover there is in time and locations of the use of all the fencing weapons and schools of combat. One example of this will please those who are tired of having the foil disparaged because it's so modern. There is a chapter with evidence that it was used far earlier and in more different places than is commonly thought.

The Secret History of the Sword will entertain you more than a little and teach you a lot.

Oh, and do be sure to read the epilogue. The last paragraph will make you feel good.