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Arms & Armor Medieval Combat ed. & trans. by Mark Rector $29.95 / Greenhill Books / 2000 With this volume, Mark Rector has done a great service to the Western martial arts community, making available for the first time in English Hans Talhoffer's influential 1443 fectbuch, or "fighting book." The result is a lavishly illustrated volume showing combat techniques with the longsword, sword and buckler, bare hands, and even on horseback. Leaving aside technical issues regarding the provenance of the Talhoffer manuscript (did, for instance, Talhoffer write the treatise or did his students commission it to record his teaching, and then ascribe it to him?), readers should note that Rector does not translate the original medieval Swabian, but rather, Hergsell's 1887 translation of the manuscript. Also, the captions accompanying the 268 plates are not even a literal translation of Hergsell's text, but include some interpretation. Thankfully, the original Swabian is included in an appendix, so readers of a scholarly bent can check his work. For the layperson, though, Rector's explanations are a valuable service. Talhoffer is, after all, medieval in his outlook, and it is difficult for one unversed in medieval swordsmanship to understand what is going on. Just the same, it would have been nice to see a direct translation accompanying the plates, as well as the explanatory text. Nonetheless, Medieval Combat is a rather impressive book. —Ken Mondschein

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