Jacob'e Book . Opinions???
 

This book just ended
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...MEWA%3AIT&rd=1
It fetched a not inconsiderable sum of money.
Those of you who are familiar with it: is it really that good and irreprlaceable?
I have Elgood on Arabian and Indian weapons, Astvatsaturyan on Caucasian and Turkish, Polish books on Persian etc in addition to Pant, Cato, and Stone and Tarassyuk encyclopedias ( that is an abbreviated version).
Am I missing something important by not having Jacob? On top of everything, I do not know French and can only look at the pics and read some titles and sword names.

Knowledge can be expensive, knowledge is power ;) Tim

My question is: does it offer any information not available in other, less expensive books?
Pant is very expensive, but it covers very wide area and goes into minute details. Astvatsaturyan is a classic and I pity you, guys, who cannot read Russian!
Is Jacob yet another "coffee table" or "eastern sword for the beginner"-type book or is it a serious study offering indispensable and unique information?

I only have school boy or grocers French but even I can read from the sellers comments that this book has extensive coverage of Islamic weapon far more than other publications with a similar Islamic weapons title . This book includes magic weapons and! those of Africa. I wish I had a copy :( Tim.

Ariel, I wish I could read Russian, there are some books on Ottoman stuff I'd love to get but alas, they are in Russian. I can barely make out some of the Cyrillic. :(

There are really a lot of new books on eastern arms and armor that were recently published in russian. Reprint "Tsarskoe selo collection", "state armory collection (oruzheinaja palata)", "great steppe" and "weapons of the ancient east", to name a few...

Rivkin,
What do you mean by the last two titles? Never heard of them. Can you give more precise info and where to get them?

The biggest "weapons-oriented" publishing house in russia:
http://www.atlant-tpg.ru/sto.html
"Weapons of the ancient east", Gorelik
http://books.j5.ru/tov/orugie-drevne...ie-iv-v-do-n-e
Mongols ... by Gorelik
http://www.neobook.ru/showtov.asp?Cat_id=51476

The first one, ancient east, I've got and you are welcome to borrow it, if you like. Concerning buying them from Russia, I usually just use people I know and ask them to bring book or two on their next visit.

Gentlemen,

I acquired Jacob's book when it was published and have read it thoroughly. In its favor, it is broad in its coverage and contains images of some fine examples. Unfortunately, the text is not especially informative and provides no new data regarding Islamic arms. For these reasons it has been suggested that it is of more use to non-French speakers than anyone else.
Regarding steppe peoples, Gorelik's work is genuinely impressive. I highly recommend him to anyone interested in this area.

Sincerely,

Ham