The SwordMaster's Library
Here are some book recommendations, and links to online historical material.
Dueling
- Dueling Central - "a comprehensive guide and web directory to pistol and sword dueling in history, literature and film."
- The Duel, by Robert Baldick. An ancedotal analysis of the duel throughout history, covering all countries and time periods.
- Secret History of the Sword - a book by Christopher Amberger.
History
- Life in Elizabethan England: A Compendium of Common Knowledge
- Le Poulet Gauche - "a guide to the history, culture, and daily life of 16th century France. It is designed to be a resource for historical recreation"
- Methods and Practice of Elizabethan Swordplay, by Craig Turner, Tony Soper, Joseph Papp. A good starting point for getting a sense of the atmosphere & style of Elizabethan fencing methods. A concise summary of diGrassi, with many interesting historical tidbits hidden in the endnotes.
- The Gunpowder Plot pages - A study of Guy Fawkes Day, with information about the period. The information on the Elizabethan Trained Bands is of particular interest.
- Tudor & Elizabethan portraits
Psychology
- On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society, by Dave Grossman.
Philosophy & Strategy
- The Inner Game of Fencing: Excellence in Form, Technique, Strategy and Spirit, by Nick Evangelista. Written by a master of Classical Fencing, it is in effect, a collection of
fun-to-read essays discussing the mental approach to fencing, including ideas on morale and strategy.
Literature
- Project Gutenberg. Online archive of out-of-print books.
- Shakespeare Bookshelf. Complete works of William Shakespeare, on-line and searchable.
- The Plays of Thomas Middleton 1580 - 1627. Including the infamous Roaring Girl
- FireBlade Coffeehouse: Alexandre Dumas. Dumas's musketeer texts, with bibliographical discussion and other Dumas links.
- Cyrano de Bergerac. A fairly comprehensive site dedicated to the inspiring Cyrano de Bergerac
- Legends. offering "Guided access to primary source material and up-to-date
scholarship", "Personal essays and extended reviews", "Historical surveys and thoughtful commentary", and "Romance, adventure, and panache". Of particular interest is the section on Swashbucklers & Fops.
- The Scarlet Pimpernel, by Baroness Orczy. Did you know there are a whole series of Pimpernel books? A bit wordy, and gushy by today's standards, this books are filled with cunning plots, high romance, and foppish fun!
- Raphael Sabatini is a writer from the early part of this century, sometimes called the "King of Swashbucklers." He is the author of Captain Blood, Scaramouche, and The Sea-hawk. My current favorite is Bardelys the Magnificent, which can be found at Project Gutenberg.
Online Journals
- The Elizabethan Review - Being a scholarly journal devoted to publishing new research on Shakespeare and the English Renaissance.
Book Stores
- Powell's Books - My favorite source for used and out-of-print books. Usually quite decently priced. They also sell new books at the retail list price.
- Amazon.com - For new books, I like amazon.com, since they are usually discounted. Also, the selection is broad and the reviews are very handy.
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