0000.MOLLOY (B.) THE CUTTING EDGE: STUDIES IN ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL COMBAT. 222pp., fully illus.incl.8 colour plates, P.B. 2007.

A series of essays on the real-life experience of combatants before the age of gunpowder. The evolution of combat weaponry, the effectiveness of offensive arms against the defensive are all considered.. Chapters cover Greek combat, Roman fighting styles on the battlefield & arena, scale armour, archery & chariots in Egypt's New Kingdom, Irish Early Bronze Age edged weapons, Scythian bows, Anglo-Saxon shields, the Mycenean age of plate, German martial arts of the Middle Ages & Renaissance, thrusting versus cutting swords, Renaissance rapier combat