The Book of the Sword

by Sir Richard Francis Burton

Overview

‘The history of the sword,’ the author writes, “is the history of humanity.” For centuries, the sword has been a symbol of power, strength, liberty, and courage. In the Middle Ages, the image of a sword was used to signify the word of God. Nearly every culture in history has forged blades from stone or steel to fight in times of battle and protect in times of peace.
Spanning the centuries and a wide range of cultures, Burton's rich and elegant prose illuminates the sword as both armament and potent symbol. For nearly all peoples of the world, the sword embodied the spirit of chivalry, symbolized justice and martyrdom, and represented courage and freedom. In battle, it served universally as a deadly offensive weapon.
Drawing on a wealth of literary, archaeological, anthropological, linguistic, and other sources, the author traces the sword's origins, from its birth as a charred and sharpened stick, through its diverse stages of development, to its full growth in the early Roman Empire.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9789354998638
Publisher:	General Press
Publication date:	01/01/2024
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	8 MB

About the Author

Sir Richard Francis Burton (1821–1890) was one of the most extraordinary and controversial figures of the Victorian era—an explorer, soldier, linguist, ethnographer, translator, and writer whose life reads like a mythic epic. A man of vast intellectual range and fearless temperament, Burton defied the conventions of his time in nearly every domain he touched, leaving behind a legacy that is as complex and provocative as it is enduring.

Born in Torquay, England, and raised across continental Europe, Burton developed linguistic talents early on, eventually mastering over 25 languages and dialects, including Arabic, Farsi, Hindi, and Swahili. This polyglot facility would serve him throughout his career, particularly in his travels across the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. He is perhaps best known to the general public for his daring pilgrimage to Mecca in 1853—a journey undertaken in disguise as a Muslim pilgrim, at immense personal risk, since non-Muslims were forbidden from entering the holy city. His detailed account, Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah, earned him fame and notoriety in equal measure.

Burton’s explorations extended into Africa, most notably with his expedition in search of the source of the Nile, undertaken with fellow explorer John Hanning Speke. The two men famously clashed over the results of the journey, and their feud would mark one of the most contentious episodes in Victorian exploration. Burton later served in diplomatic posts for the British Empire, including as consul in Fernando Po (off the coast of West Africa), Damascus, and finally Trieste, where he died in 1890. But Burton’s contributions were not limited to exploration. He was a prolific and often controversial writer and translator. His unexpurgated translation of The Arabian Nights (also known as The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night) is among his most enduring literary achievements, notable for its scholarly footnotes and explicit content, which challenged Victorian sexual mores. He also produced a highly annotated and uncensored translation of the Kama Sutra, the first of its kind in English, which he published through the private and discreet Kama Shastra Society to evade censorship.

Editorial Reviews

"Burton's encyclopedic mind is on full display in The Book of the Sword. His work prefigures later interdisciplinary studies, fusing anthropology, linguistics, and archaeology long before those fields were formalized. However, his conclusions should be approached critically and contextually."

Cambridge Review of Cultural History - N/A