The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Swords and Sabers: An authorative history and visual directory of edged weapons from around the world, shown in over 800 stunning colour photographs Hardcover – March 16, 2009

Excellent reference guide for buyers and collectors. Was able to research several civil war swords and actually was able to identify a sword that was used by Lincoln's son ~ Todd.

I purchased this book for my 13 year old grandson who is a sword enthusiast. He just loved the book. We could not get it out of his hands, but he does love to read and he is very interested in history.

If you know absolutely nothing about the subject and want to get your toes wet, this is a good coffee table treatment of a vast subject. For 4000 years the sword was a symbol of power and entitlement. It was a martial art that took years to master. As technologies evolved the sword also changed and diversified. The myth of the slow, heavy and not overly sharp western sword has been exploded by the research of the past 25 years. Western swords may have developed more pragmatically than their eastern counterparts, but they were as often as not the equal or functionally better than what was developed elsewhere.You will get the gist of this from this book. The illustrations and graphics are excellent; they just wind up being pretty superficial.If you want it for the art I'd shop the amazon secondary market and get this as cheap as you can.Addendum:What the heck is goin on?? I paid 28.00 for this book and it's selling for 200.00 a pop on the used market? Hey contact me!! You can have mine for 150.00. Really it's an okay piece, but a lot's missing from this book. As my good friend Elmer Fudd told me, " I weewee don't see why dis book is selwing fow tho much, when it's weewee kinda cwappee."

This is a gift for my little brother, and I can't wait to see his face when he opens it! I have flipped through the book and it's so cool.

I was hoping for more of a catalog of sabre styles throughout history. Honestly, you can find all the info online.

The pictures in this book are better than the description looked. The book is a really nice reference for different sword styles throughout history and in different countries.

I think he enjoys this book. He like collecting knives and swords. The book offers a lot of history and how the swords are made. Thank you!

i purchased this as a gift for my son, he has said several times that he enjoys it.