2009, Baen, Riverdale, NY, 235 pages

This was a labor of love posthumously published after by Hank’s family. I bought quite a few replica swords from Hank’s company, Museum Replicas down in Georgia. All of those swords were good pieces [better than his shields] but none of them were nearly as good as this book. If you are interested in the blade, whether in the eastern or the western tradition, this should be the first book on your shelf.

Frank begins in the Stone Age and uses Otzi, the ‘Ice man’ who was slain in the Alps, as a forensic case study. He then follows Burton’s pattern of examining sword and armor evolution. But where Burton was writing a history of man through the sword, Hank just wrote about the sword, which makes it more readable. It has not escaped me that both men undertook their labor of love at the end of their life and did not get to see their book published. At least Hank finished his. I wonder if he purposefully streamlined Burton’s method so that he might actually smell the fresh ink.

Hank makes a lot of effort to clarify the effects and actual use of swords and to clear up misconceptions about combat methods. Any writer of historical adventures or fantasy should use this as a research tool. I reread pertinent sections before writing period combat scenes. If you are an experimental weaponry person this book is an invaluable reference with 170 illustrations and photos.

Hank finishes his book with advice on sparring and dueling, advice born of experience. If you come to our Ancient Combat page regularly, and you don’t have this book or have not read it, you are missing out.