Customer Reviews

Boarders Away, With Steel: Edged Weapons and Polearms of the Classical Age of Fighting Sail, 1626-1826

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There is a vast literature on naval warfare in the age of sail. William Gilkerson's two volume set, Boarders Away, deals with the fascinating topic of boarding actions and their weapons and tactics. Although covering the entire age of fighting sail, his emphasis is on the period 1775-1815 and on the British, French, and American navies.

Volume I, With Steel, covers edged weapons and polearms. Chapter I gives a general description of boarding actions. Included is a detailed account of the 1813 action between HMS Shannon and USS Chesapeake. Other chapters discuss boarding axes, boarding pikes, cutlasses, officers swords and dirks, and miscellaneous weapons (knives, belaying pins, flensing spades, etc.)

The text discussed these subjects in lavish detail. Included are are extracts from logs and other primary sources. The folio-sized volume is lavishly illustrated with hundreds of drawings and photographs. The cover photo above is an example of one of the colored plates.

What can I say, but WOW!!! This is an EXCELLENT book on the edged tools and weapons used during the age of fighting sail.
Well documented, with exceptional line drawings and paintings, this book is a MUST for museum curators, collectors, reenactors, artists and navy historians. Even if you are not an "anchor clanker" at heart, you can almost smell the salt air and feel the spray...

Shiver me timbers!!! An amazing reference work! This book will be THE reference book for collectors of edged weapons from the days of wooden ships and iron men for decades to come!!!

This book is a wonderful reference book for those interested in weaponry of our history from 1626 to 1826. We have replicated many arms from this book and are thrilled to have it in our collection