Gentlemen's Blood: A History of Dueling, From Swords at Dawn to Pistols at Dusk // Barbara Holland | ****| History books are not often terribly well-written, relying on the subject matter itself to hold the reader's interest. This one is, however. Holland's style is straightforward and rarely editorial, but the sparseness of her language has a simple grace I haven't often encountered in a history book. Two other points: (1) You are not going to believe your eyes when you read about that one French duel involving blunderbusses, and (2) Nothing will prepare you for the suggestion she makes — seemingly seriously —in the last 3 pages, and you'll be hard-pressed to disagree with her reasoning, I suspect.
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