Paradoxes of Defence, 1599, With an Introduction by J. Dover Wilson

Paradoxes of Defence was first published in London in 1599. It was written by George Silver, an English gentleman, who was appalled at the influx of Italian rapier fencing into England, and set out his arguments in favour of the traditional English weapons: the short sword, the short staff, the forrest bill, the morris pike, and all manner of additional arms such as daggers, bucklers, and targes. He rails against the fashionable new style on the grounds that it is both dangerous to the practitioners, and of no use in warfare.

Whether he was right or wrong, history was against him and the fashionable Italian rapier took over. But his work offers a vital window into the theory and practice of martial arts in England in Tudor times, and ironically provides much of what we know about several Italian rapier masters: Rocco Bonetti, Vincentio Saviolo, and Jeronimo Saviolo.

In this edition, the text has been modernised and edited by Guy Windsor, and published as a companion volume to the audiobook version, available in both modern pronunciation narrated by Jonathan Hartman, and original pronunciation narrated by Ben Crystal. For more information please see guywindsor.net/silver