Book Review: The Swordsman's Companion by Guy Windsor

Greetings,

I bought the second edition of "The Swordsman's Companion" by Guy Windsor on the basis that I had some interest in the use of the longsword. I had been along to at least one seminar on its use and read various bits and pieces. This made me a "talented amateur" at best I suppose. This book suited my particular situation very well.

Guy's book starts off with a comprehensive introduction in order to introduce what he wants to present. Unlike many people I read introductions as they give you an instant feel about the body of the book that you are going to read. In the case of this book, it laid the foundation for what was going to be found in the following and did a great job of this. The description of the elements present were excellent and further gave background which would be suitable for various different classes of reader.

The body of the work is presented in great fashion and presents the material in a clear and concise manner. The reader instantly understands what will be presented on the following pages and the approach taken by the author to get there. The drills for both solo and paired play are well-presented and their purpose is clearly introduced before they are presented. With application to the knowledge presented and with attention paid to the information presented a future swordsman could quite easily be able to learn the essentials of the use of the longsword. For any further work or application a partner would be required, however, this is a process which could also be committed to in a positive fashion. Needless to say "A Modern Training Manual for Medieval Longsword", in my opinion, is very accurate.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the use of the longsword, and from any particular point of view.

Cheers,

Henry.

P.S. For all my regular readers, there will be another post made this month, this is an extra.