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Arms & Armor Sword in Hand: A History of the Medieval Sword by Ewart Oakeshott $60.00 / Arms & Armor / 2001 Ewart Oakeshott's Sword in Hand combines 126 crisp photographs of magnificent swords, along with engrossing text, which follow the physical development of the knightly sword from the sixth through the end of the 15th century. Offering a judicious melding of recent archaeological evidence as well as legendary and anecdotal evidence, Oakeshott treats the sword as a living entity rather than a piece of rusting, inanimate metal. Each chapter covers a specific phase in the evolution of the knightly sword, and the majority of them offer a rousing narrative of a duel, joust, or battle in which knightly swords were used. An accomplished raconteur, Oakeshott makes the reader feel like an actual participant in these historic conflicts. (For instance, while reading about swords from the Viking age to the high Middle Ages, readers will become embroiled in the epic battles of Civitate and Benevento, and joust in the tournament at Runnymeade.) Those already familiar with Oakeshott's work will welcome the accessibility of these articles, newly rewrked into a unified whole; and those who are not yet acquainted with this great scholar will be delighted with their new discovery. —Stanley Lombardo

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