There was a bit of controversy on this book, which is not of itself a
problem at all.

I tremendously enjoyed the book, as did a number of others. From the
non-fencing
world, this book got extremely favorable reviews from The New York
Times, Wall
Street Journal, The Economist, historian John Keegan, and others.
That's more
attention to a book on fencing than I've ever seen before.

The parts that were the subject of controversy were the historical
details in the first
two chapters. Stephen Hand expressed his opinions on the book twice, and
since he's
on this list, he can certainly describe how he feels about it.
Personally, I think the
book excellent: giving a view into fencing that the general public
rarely sees, and
an inside look at the enclosed world of elite fencing (the author is a 4
time Olympic
fencer from Great Britain) that few fencers see.

Clearly a labor of love, and well worth having in your library.

regards, Jeff

--
Jeff Savit