Self-Defense for Gentlemen and Ladies: A Nineteenth-Century Treatise on Boxing, Kicking, Grappling, and Fencing with the Cane and Quarterstaff

This 19th-century self-defense manual—written by a master swordsman—will appeal to fencers and martial artists as well as fans of Victorian-era culture, steampunk, and American history

Colonel Thomas Hoyer Monstery was a master swordsman who participated in more than fifty duels, fought under twelve flags, battled gangsters, and was constantly involved in the great conflicts and upheavals of his time. In the 1870s, he began writing his magnum opus—a series of newspaper articles that are now...