don't forget your warhammer.

It appears Warhammer, the Forgotten Weapon: Its History Through Examples by James Roth, is the only volume exclusively featuring this weapon, so if you've just purchased a warhammer this would be the one choice you get.

Although a slim self-published 120 pages, which, when compared to the encyclopedias one finds on swords, is spartan, the style is succinct and says just what one needs to know in a well-reasoned historical survey.

Revealing that "James Roth"'s a pseudonym, one can deduce the author's protecting his/her stated professional fencing career, but any reader must question what's the shame in exploring other avenues of melee weaponry, when variations could only strengthen and add to any fencer's toolkit. 

Also, if the author/ess is a professional fencer, one should expect more practical guidance, say blocks, parrys, stances, positions, and contingencies versus differently armed opponents.

Instead most of the examples are based on remaining artifacts and intuitive explorations of period paintings, in particular this one:

[Niccolò Mauruzi da Tolentino at the Battle of San Romano (probably c. 1438–1440), from a triptych by Paolo Uccello. Egg tempera with walnut oil and linseed oil on poplar, 182 × 320 cm, National Gallery, London.]

There's a detailed beat-by-beat breakdown of what's happening with the three knights' melee at right which backs up the clear superiority of the warhammer's ready handiness versus formidable plate and the awkwardness of the lance or sword in this situation. This deep minutia more than implies the author's acumen, but the know-how of most martial arts manuals isn't given to the reader in the fencing chapter as one might greatly anticipate. Instead the book mainly features the reasons behind the technology of the weapon's build & variants.

Citing Wikipedia and drawing from online museum and weapons' collection pictures, the book surveys the warhammer's precursors, working up to the evolution of armor, and the need for and hammer-style armour busting close quarter weapon when regular swords failed, and other arms proved too awkward. Discussing medieval & renaissance versions from Poland, Ukraine, and Germany, the reader's expertly lead through all the whys of warhammering.

The book concludes by stating "The warhammer should not be remembered through games and fantasies." Odds are however that given the current prevalence of gamer & geek cultures, it's precisely these aspects which give Roth his readership, which should be respected for deciding to do their homework by purchasing his text.

So if you've come to the battlefield hammer in hand looking for a guide with step-by-step techniques like the ninja books of the 1980s, this isn't it, but it's the only book out there and worth reading to know why you bought that bad arse hammer in the first place, and why it still fascinates us centuries later.

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While a mostly happy bookstore fixture for over two decades, Guillermo Maytorena IV is currently willing to entertain your serious proposals for employment as a literary/cinema critic, goth journalist, castellan, airship pilot/crewperson, investigative mythologist, or assisting in a craft brewery. Should you be connected to any of the above or equally interesting endeavours, do contact him via LinkedIn or G+.