Rating: 
Summary: Blood, Sweat and Tears of the Sword---
Review: "The Secret History of the Sword" by 'Fechtmeister' Amberger is a 'deeply-penetrating' insight into 'The Blood, Sweat and Tears' of the SWORD. A 'sharply-cutting' exploration of Western Martial Arts--particularly sword-related ones. It gives us "Adventures in Ancient Martial Arts" with a GUIDE who is an insider into the hotly-combative internal Spirit as well as the cooly-rational external Technic of 'The Western Sword Way'. An Inspiration for those-just-curious as well as those-who-follow--'The Western Sword Way' [single quotes are my own]---
Rating:
Summary: Blood, Sweat and Tears of the Sword---
Review: "The Secret History of the Sword" by 'Fechtmeister' Amberger is a 'deeply-penetrating' insight into 'The Blood, Sweat and Tears' of the SWORD. A 'sharply-cutting' exploration of Western Martial Arts--particularly sword-related ones. It gives us "Adventures in Ancient Martial Arts" with a GUIDE who is an insider into the hotly-combative internal Spirit as well as the cooly-rational external Technic of 'The Western Sword Way'. An Inspiration for those-just-curious as well as those-who-follow--'The Western Sword Way' [single quotes are my own]---
Rating:
Summary: "THE" Book on sword combat.
Review: AMberger's book is truely one of the best martial art books on the market. While the title suggests a historical tome, it is more an in depth analysis of the issues and theories surrounding sword combat. As for the very few negative reviews; it is hard to belive they have read this book. In style I found it to be engageing and fun. The many full passages from historical texts offer copious ammounts of info if even they are a bit hard to read (old language etc.) The many photos keep the book lively and bring to life the text. Amberger does not, in my opinion, make any argument for, or against any style or method. He is fair and balanced through the entire texts. He also brings other information that may seem periferal but plays such an under-investigated role in combat (Fear, bio-machanics, and psycology.)
Over-all, a wonderful and important text.
Rating:
Summary: Intelligent and Outstanding
Review: First, a little about what Mr. Amberger's book is not. It is not a practical guide to fencing and swordsmanship. Neither is it intended to be a complete treatise dealing with the history of the sword throughout the course of world civilization. The book is an extremely well-researched series of individual essays which largely serve to debunk many of the myths now prevalent about swords, swordsmanship, and armed combat in general. His scope is largely confined to the West.What makes the book special is Mr. Amberger himself. First, he is a thorough and careful scholar, working in a field where there are few serious scholars. Second, he has a crystal-clear writing style, good sense of humor, and a great deal of common sense. These qualities are rare indeed in modern scholarship, where what passes for erudtion is to be as unintelligible as possible, and to quote Derrida and Deleuze a lot. I am not a fencer, but I did not find that his use of some technical fencing terminology interfered with my understanding. I would wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone interested in this subject. Very enjoyable reading and extremely informative.
Rating:
Summary: a commendable introduction to European swordmanship
Review: I am a student of Japanese martial arts, including kendo, iaido and aikido. Being an "intellectual" one of my favourite wastes of time and money is buying martial arts books, which tend to (a) be badly written (b) contain stories which, to put it mildly, beggar belief (c) possess a whole lot of other negative qualities which are not relevant here. "The Secret History of the Sword" is one of the rare exceptions to that sorry rule. True, as someone remarked, the chapters of the book have no discernable relationship between them. It seems, however, that "The Secret History of the Sword" is in fact a collection of essays that were originally published separately, so I am more than ready to forgive this minor flaw. Mr Amberger writes well, is often very funny and has a good nose for nonsense. I am not capable of judging the technical finesses of his analysis, but what little experience I have with Japanese swords (well, the harmless variety) makes me suspect he knows what he is writing about. I was looking primarily for a good general introduction to European swordsmanship and this book is exactly that. Mr Amberger is also interested in the wider context and discusses other European martial arts (by the way, the parallels with budo or gong fu are amazing) sword-making, sword-wounds, etc. For once, I have spent my money wisely!
Rating:
Summary: a commendable introduction to European swordmanship
Review: I am a student of Japanese martial arts, including kendo, iaido and aikido. Being an "intellectual" one of my favourite wastes of time and money is buying martial arts books, which tend to (a) be badly written (b) contain stories which, to put it mildly, beggar belief (c) possess a whole lot of other negative qualities which are not relevant here. "The Secret History of the Sword" is one of the rare exceptions to that sorry rule. True, as someone remarked, the chapters of the book have no discernable relationship between them. It seems, however, that "The Secret History of the Sword" is in fact a collection of essays that were originally published separately, so I am more than ready to forgive this minor flaw. Mr Amberger writes well, is often very funny and has a good nose for nonsense. I am not capable of judging the technical finesses of his analysis, but what little experience I have with Japanese swords (well, the harmless variety) makes me suspect he knows what he is writing about. I was looking primarily for a good general introduction to European swordsmanship and this book is exactly that. Mr Amberger is also interested in the wider context and discusses other European martial arts (by the way, the parallels with budo or gong fu are amazing) sword-making, sword-wounds, etc. For once, I have spent my money wisely!
Rating:
Summary: One of the Greatest Myth Debunking Books Ever
Review: Mr. Amberger has put together one of the most important books in the spirit of Western Martial Arts. It debunks many myths about fencing and swordsmanship throughout the ages and provides SOLID FACTS with footnotes to his sources to back them up. The gentleman who reviewed this book with three stars stated, "unfortunately he mis-uses historical terms, fails to explore topics fully, and presents some bad facts." The historical terms Mr. Amberger uses are accurate, the topics explored as well as they can be within the pages provided, and the facts are very well supported. For the gentleman who gave this book one star, you are way off base sir and I doubt you have any factual arguments to back up your false and unconstructive statements. Mr. Ambergers information on the history of fencing are backed up by his footnotes and by the respected works of others. To insult Mr. Amberger's factual content is to insult the work of the many reputable sources and people that Mr. Amberger uses as references. This book could have used a better organizational structure, true, but it is well deserving of the five star rating I gave it. As a member of The Cateran Society and the S.P.A.T.H.A. I consider myself, if anything, to be well read in the area of Western Martial Arts. If you don't like the book, thats your oppinion, but at least know what you are talking about when you criticize something. If this were a different time period, Mr. Amberger would challenge you and give you a sound thrashing if you were man enough to accept. Since he is not here to defend himself I challenge you to debate this point with me on SwordForum. The only people who would try to assasinate this book would be disgruntled Olympic Fencers who don't want to see their treasured false beliefs in the history of their sport debunked, or Rapier and Smallsword stylists who don't appreciate their limited art being knocked on. Take my word for it, certain reviewers are just upset that this book tells it like it is. "The Secret History Of The Sword" provides an in depth look at fencing history and the history of the duel. I would recommend this book to anyone serious about the history of combat with the sword. -Nathan Grant
S.P.A.T.H.A
The Cateran Society -Scots Gaelic Martial Arts
Rating:
Summary: A Secret No Longer
Review: Mr. Amberger has put together some of the best articles from his former (and much lamented in passing) publication Hammerterz Forum. His anectdotes and scholarship of the sword is impressive and a joy to read. For anyone interested in swords and swordplay this should be on your bookshelf.
Rating:
Summary: The best fencing book of the decade
Review: The Secret History of the Sword is easily the most compelling book swordsmanship of the decade. Amberger's double-edged pen is as sharp as the blades he describes. Although academic in detail and footnotes, the prose isn't that dry historical pabulum of the intelligencia, it's the rapier wit of cyberpunks. Amberger can not only fight -- he can write. If you enjoy fencing, warfare, martial arts, history, or just damn good writing - you'll like this book. The sharp reproductions of ancient and rare fighting illustrations that pepper the pages are the best I've ever seen in one collection. I'll put it this way The Secret History of the Sword caused me to lay down mine for a week. And that's no small victory.
Rating:
Summary: A MUST HAVE for all serious sword historians!
Review: The Secret History of the Sword is interesting and insightful as author J. Christoph Amberger effectively weaves history, drama, and metaphor into a compelling account of the development, culture, and social significance of Europe's ancient sword arts.Amberger, the publisher of Hammerterz Forum and consultant to the documentary "Deadly Duels," has done a tremendous job here, and should be commended for not only challenging and dispelling many of the myths that surround and plague these arts, but for doing so in such an engaging and often comical style. In my own related research, I have poured over reams of notes, monographs, and films on the "history and culture" of the sword, but nowhere has a more well-rounded, comprehensive, and concise history of the European sword and its collateral arts been presented, and with such accuracy. The Secret History of the Sword stands well above them all in breadth, scope, and presentation.It is perhaps Amberger's humility that has afforded us such an unbiased presentation of these otherwise heretofore romanticized cultural artifacts. This is exemplified most obviously in the author's omission of certain schools (such as the Spanish) from this study. For while Amberger knows what he knows, more importantly, he knows what he doesn't know. Thus, where his research is lacking he is secure in himself enough to avoid the topic or direct the reader to the appropriate sources. The result: an opus of inspiring proportions that does not put on airs, perpetuate dogma, or fill in the gaps with nonsense. The engaging duels presented as interludes between chapters, are alone worth the price of admission!
|
