Dueling sword

Originally published in 1884, Claude La Marche's L'Épeé was the first book ever written on the use of the épeé, the dueling sword of the 19th century. The book in no way deals with the modern Olympic sport of épeé fencing—rather, it covers in a passionate narrative style the rituals and techniques of combat dueling with the sword, "the war of surprises" that is the épeé bout. This first English translation of La Marche's masterpiece by fencing expert Brian House, The Dueling Sword delivers not only a valuable treatise on historical sword fighting but extraordinary insights into the…