The Cutting Edge

Combat is brutal, bloody and the province of some of the worst nightmares of human existence. The contributions in this book engage directly with the theme of the real-life experiences of combatants before the age of gunpowder weaponry. From the Bronze Age to the Medieval world, from Egypt in the east to Ireland in the west, the evolution and development of combat weaponry is illustrated by leading experts in the fields of archaeology, history and martial arts. They lucidly illustrate how some of the finest artefacts crafted by men were the weapons we used to kill each other. They explore how these weapons of war functioned in the living hands of past warriors, where combat was the true crucible of their creation.

The stage for some of the most powerful human emotions is the realm of battle - written testimonies of the twentieth-century soldier's experience in battle are both potent and prolific. Archaeology can weave a tapestry of almost narrative quality, but the focal characters of these tales are the anonymous individuals who acted out their lives in the creation of these histories. This book provides striking new insights into the activities and experiences of these soldiers of the front line of combat in the often brutal ages of sword and spear.