By the Sword
A History of Gladiators, Musketeers, Samurai, Swashbucklers, and Olympic Champions
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By the Sword
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Narrated by:
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Richard Cohen
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By:
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Richard Cohen
About this listen
Napoleon fenced. So did Shakespeare, Karl Marx, Grace Kelly, and President Truman, who as a schoolboy would practice fencing with Bess - his future wife - when the two of them returned home from school. Lincoln was a canny dueler. Ignatius Loyola challenged a man to a duel for denying Christ's divinity (and won). Less successful, but no less enthusiastic, was Mussolini, who would tell his wife he was "off to get spaghetti," their code to avoid alarming the children.
By the Sword is an epic history of sword fighting - a science, an art, and, for many, a religion that began at the dawn of civilization in ancient Egypt and has been an obsession for mankind ever since. With wit and insight, Richard Cohen gives us an engrossing history of the world via the sword.
©2002, 2008 Narrative Tension, Inc. (P)2020 TantorListeners also enjoyed...
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2 out of 5 stars
-
Horrible choice of narrator derails this book
- By Steve Winnett on 02-25-21
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Death in the Afternoon
- By: Ernest Hemingway
- Narrated by: Boyd Gaines
- Length: 9 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 413
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 326
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Story4 out of 5 stars 328
Still considered one of the best books ever written about bullfighting, Death in the Afternoon reflects Hemingway's belief that bullfighting was more than mere sport. Here he describes and explains the technical aspects of this dangerous ritual, and "the emotional and spiritual intensity and pure classic beauty that can be produced by a man, an animal, and a piece of scarlet serge draped on a stick."
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5 out of 5 stars
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No previous interest in bullfighting required
- By Gary on 01-07-13
By: Ernest Hemingway
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Autumn Lightning
- The Education of an American Samurai
- By: Dave Lowry
- Narrated by: Brian Nishii
- Length: 6 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 63
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 52
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 52
Dave Lowry juxtaposes his singular experience as an adept student of kenjutsu (the art of swordsmanship) under a Japanese teacher in St. Louis with a riveting account of the samurai tradition in Japan. Intertwining tales of the masters with reflections on his own apprenticeship in the samurai's arts, he reveals in their time-honored methods a way of life with profound relevance to modern times.
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5 out of 5 stars
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GREAT
- By JK on 06-19-24
By: Dave Lowry
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Last Stands
- Why Men Fight When All Is Lost
- By: Michael Walsh
- Narrated by: Michael Walsh
- Length: 13 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 430
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 368
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 369
What is heroism? What are its moral components - altruism, love, self-sacrifice? Why was it once celebrated, and now often dismissed as anachronistic? In this dramatic and readable account of last stands in history - famous or otherwise - Walsh explores the stakes that led men at very different times and places to face overwhelming odds and certain death for the sake of family, home and country.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Excellent historical facts
- By Mark Twain on 02-18-21
By: Michael Walsh
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The Sacred Band
- Three Hundred Theban Lovers Fighting to Save Greek Freedom
- By: James Romm
- Narrated by: Vivienne Leheny
- Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 35
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 31
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 30
From classicist James Romm comes a thrilling deep dive into the last decades of ancient Greek freedom leading up to Alexander the Great’s destruction of Thebes - and the saga of the greatest military corps of the age, the Theban Sacred Band, a unit composed of 150 pairs of male lovers.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Stop now and don’t buy this book.
- By Robert Pitman on 06-08-21
By: James Romm
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An American Martyr in Persia
- The Epic Life and Tragic Death of Howard Baskerville
- By: Reza Aslan
- Narrated by: Reza Aslan
- Length: 10 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 56
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 53
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 53
As a student of Woodrow Wilson at Princeton, Howard Baskerville was aflame not only with the gospel of Jesus, but with the Wilsonian gospel that constitutional democracy is the birthright of all nations. Rather than become a small-town minister like his father in South Dakota, he volunteered for missionary service in Persia. Tabriz in 1907 was a hotbed of democratic revolution. Brilliant young firebrands were among Baskerville’s students at the Presbyterian school—and became his devoted friends. He lectured on freedom; they dedicated their lives to it.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Didn't plan on listening to this one...
- By Amazon Customer on 10-20-22
By: Reza Aslan
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The Death of Caesar
- The Story of History's Most Famous Assassination
- By: Barry Strauss
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 8 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 226
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 202
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 201
William Shakespeare's gripping play showed Caesar's assassination to be an amateur and idealistic affair. The real killing, however, was a carefully planned paramilitary operation, a generals' plot put together by Caesar's disaffected officers and designed with precision. Brutus and Cassius were indeed key players, but they had the help of a third man - Decimus. He was the mole in Caesar's entourage, one of Caesar's leading generals, and a lifelong friend.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Absorbing
- By Jean on 03-24-15
By: Barry Strauss
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Napoleon
- By: Paul Johnson
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 5 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 154
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 78
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Story4 out of 5 stars 79
Paul Johnson's book is a refreshing return to a concept whose time has come once again: the Great Man theory of biography. It serves as "the greatest possible refutation of those who hold that events are governed by forces, classes, economics, and geography rather than the powerful wills of men and women". Napoleon truly was the Great Man of his age, a towering and terrible genius who managed to conquer the Continent.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Not your standard biography
- By Mark Grannis on 04-24-05
By: Paul Johnson
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Hagakure
- The Secret Wisdom of the Samurai
- By: Yamamoto Tsunetomo, Alexander Bennett - translator
- Narrated by: Tim Campbell
- Length: 7 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 106
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 89
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 90
The comprehensive and accurate edition of the Hagakure is a must-have for serious martial artists or fans of samurai and the Bushido code.
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5 out of 5 stars
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awesome book on samurai history.
- By Christian Knight on 10-02-20
By: Yamamoto Tsunetomo, and others
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Striking Distance
- Bruce Lee & the Dawn of Martial Arts in America
- By: Charles Russo
- Narrated by: Dan Woren
- Length: 6 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 290
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 254
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 253
In the Chinese calendar, 1964 was the Year of the Green Dragon. It would be a challenging and eventful year for Bruce Lee. He would broadcast his dissenting view before the first great international martial arts gathering and then defend it by facing down Chinatown's young ace kung fu practitioner in a legendary behind-closed-doors, high-noon-style showdown. The Year of the Green Dragon saw the dawn of martial arts in America and the rise of an icon.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Needs a direction
- By Dave R. on 11-13-18
By: Charles Russo
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All Blood Runs Red
- The Legendary Life of Eugene Bullard-Boxer, Pilot, Soldier, Spy
- By: Phil Keith, Tom Clavin
- Narrated by: James Shippy
- Length: 8 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 367
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 325
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Story5 out of 5 stars 324
Eugene Bullard lived one of the most fascinating lives of the 20th century. The son of a former slave and an indigenous Creek woman, Bullard fled home at the age of 11 to escape the racial hostility of his Georgia community. When his journey led him to Europe, he garnered worldwide fame as a boxer, and later as the first African-American fighter pilot in history. After the war, Bullard returned to Paris a celebrated hero. But little did he know that the dramatic, globe-spanning arc of his life had just begun.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Fascinating
- By Daniel on 08-23-20
By: Phil Keith, and others
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The Man in the Red Coat
- By: Julian Barnes
- Narrated by: Saul Reichlin
- Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 73
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 63
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Story4 out of 5 stars 61
In the summer of 1885, three Frenchmen arrived in London for a few days' intellectual shopping: a prince, a count, and a commoner with an Italian name. In time, each of these men would achieve a certain level of renown, but who were they then and what was the significance of their sojourn to England? Answering these questions, Julian Barnes unfurls the stories of their lives which play out against the backdrop of the Belle Epoque in Paris. Our guide through this world is Samuel Pozzi, the society doctor, free-thinker, and man of science with a famously complicated private life....
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1 out of 5 stars
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Pathetic narration makes this title unbearable
- By Chris Quigg on 02-27-20
By: Julian Barnes
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Nero
- Matricide, Music, and Murder in Imperial Rome
- By: Anthony Everitt, Roddy Ashworth
- Narrated by: Greg Patmore
- Length: 13 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 70
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 61
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 61
The Roman emperor Nero’s name has long been a byword for cruelty, decadence, and despotism. As the stories go, he set fire to Rome and thrummed his lyre as it burned. He then cleared the charred ruins and built a vast palace. He committed incest with his mother, who had schemed and killed to place him on the throne, and later murdered her. But these stories, left behind by contemporary historians who hated him, are hardly the full picture, and in this nuanced biography, celebrated historian Anthony Everitt and investigative journalist Roddy Ashworth reveal the contradictions inherent in Nero
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5 out of 5 stars
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An amazing 360 degree portrait
- By Cooper A Day on 01-01-23
By: Anthony Everitt, and others
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Mobituaries
- By: Mo Rocca
- Narrated by: Mo Rocca
- Length: 11 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,029
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 1,738
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,726
Mo Rocca has always loved obituaries - reading about the remarkable lives of global leaders, Hollywood heavyweights, and innovators who changed the world. But not every notable life has gotten the send-off it deserves. His quest to right that wrong inspired Mobituaries, his number one hit podcast. Now with Mobituaries, the audiobook, he has gone much further, with all new essays on artists, entertainers, sports stars, political pioneers, founding fathers, and more. Even if you know the names, you’ve never understood why they matter...until now.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Very good, but.....
- By Christopher on 11-15-19
By: Mo Rocca
What listeners say about By the Sword
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Matt OConnor
- 11-30-23
Thoroughly Enjoyable
A wonderful history of dueling and the use of sword through the ages. I was thoroughly entertained.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Rain Wiegartner
- 04-19-23
Fantastic
Deeply moving, a great mix of breadth and depth, a clear love and passion in the subject from the author mixed with humility and humor, I'm recommending this to every sword lover I know, so most of my lesbian friends and some other people too
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Peter
- 08-12-23
An excellent history
Many fascinating insights with deep historical context. The author's deep personal knowledge of the sport and relationships with top competitors really adds to the narrative. I enjoyed this book quite a bit.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Sean Malay
- 07-11-21
This book makes me want to duel.
The history and stories in this book have made me look at competition sword fighting in a new light. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the sword and its use as a dueling weapon. This book has also gave me a better understanding of fencing and its long history as both a sport and a way to settle disputes of honor.
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