As requested, the beginnings of our HEMA reading list. Starting with a selection of the West Devon Swords bookshelf, the majority are works by authors and instructors we know, have worked with, or recommendations from courses and seminars that we’ve taken up.
Beginning, of course, with Guy Windsor, you can choose anything from his ever-expanding list of titles and be assured of an authoritative and accurate read.
The Swordsman’s Companion Paperback – Mar 2013
by Guy Windsor
The Duellist’s Companion Paperback – Oct 2013
by Guy Windsor
Mastering the Art of Arms, Volume 2: The Medieval Longsword Paperback
by Guy Windsor
Moving on:
German Longsword Study Guide Paperback – Aug 2013
by Keith Farrell, Alex Bourdas, Daria Izdebska
Also take a look at the other books by Farrell, Bourdas and others at Academy of Historical Arts shop at Corsair’s Wares
The Art of Combat: A German Martial Arts Treatise of 1570 Hardcover – Oct 2006
by Joachim Meyer (Author), Jeffrey L. Forgeng (Translator)
Sigmund Ringeck’s Knightly Arts Of Combat: Sword and Buckler Fighting, Wrestling, and Fighting in Armor Paperback – Mar 2009
by Peter Svärd, David Lindholm, John Clements
(A note on John Clements – I omitted Clements from the video watch-list as I find him loud, bombastic and sometimes unsafe in his demonstrations; never short on self confidence, he does roundly ‘go for it.’ That said, his books are very clear, an early purchase of mine was Renaissance Swordsmanship: The Illustrated Use of Rapiers and Cut-and-Thrust Swords, 2008, and Medieval Swordsmanship: Illustrated Methods and Techniques, 2008 is also a good read)
The Knightly Art of Battle Paperback – Oct 2011
by Mondschein
i.33 (The Walpurgis Manuscript of Sword andBuckler, Royal Armouries – PDF facsimile copy
And finishing this list with Martin Dougherty’s eclectic selection of general and specific historical, martial arts and weapon-related books – pick your way through and skip over the gaming-related sci-fi titles (I did say he’s eclectic).
We have a series of extracts on the website taken from Cut And Thrust: European Swords and Swordsmanship by Martin J Dougherty.