Вот, накропал рецензию на только что изданную книгу по испанскому холодному оружию. Написал по-английски, потому что скинул статейку в один наш журнал. Может и напечтают, хотя врядли.
Книга обязательная, несмотря на цену и фотографии среднего качества. С пересылкой обошлась в $210. Весу в ней килограмма три.

Espadas Espanolas Militares y Civiles del Siglo XVI a XX, by Vicente Toledo Momparler, published by the author, ISBN 978-84-613-8582-9. 559 pp.; 8.5” x 12”; 1600+ color ill.; hdbnd. €125 + postage from several Spanish on-line book-sellers.

Collectors of the European edged weapons cannot brag about the overly voluminous catalog of books on the Spanish swords in their reference libraries. In fact, aside from the out of print Armas Blancas en Espana by Rafael Ocete Rubio and the outstanding on-line resource Catalogacion de Armas by Juan L. Calvo, I believe that this is the only profusely-detailed source of information on the subject.  An unforgivable omission, considering that Spain for centuries has been a major player on Europe’s battlefields! While the rapier aficionados have been lucky to have the subjects of their admiration covered in variety of works on the European Arms and Armor, those interested in the post-rapier Spanish swords have been largely left in the dark, until now. This new book, monumental in both the size and the scope, covers Spanish swords from the 1500s to the present day. More than 500 different styles, types, and variations of the Spanish rapiers, small-swords, sabers, machetes, military daggers and some bayonets are described by the author, each piece fully-illustrated and annotated. Book is divided in 5 sections – 1.Rapiers and Swords from 1500s to 1830, 2.Military swords, 3. Military Sabers, 4.Machetes, knife-bayonets and military daggers, 5.Civilian and Societal swords from 1800 onwards.  Each section is arranged in chronological order. Each page of the book is dedicated to one particular piece, with a brief description, and three or four color photos.   
The first section, dealing with the rapiers and small-swords, would also be of an interest to a collector of American Colonial Period weapons, since it features swords brought by the Spanish into the New World. Distinctly Iberian in style and construction, these rapier hilts and blades are important to learn for someone interested in the 16th-18th c. personal small-arms. Pieces by the various Spanish makers of legendary statute, like Tomas de Ayala, Sahagun, Antonio en Toledo, Juan Martinez, et al., their markings and blade inscriptions are not to be missed. The other sections are arranged in a similar chronological key, within their respective categories.
One must appreciate the vast numbers of the various types of swords made and used in Spain in the 19th century alone. Spain, after being sucked into the Napoleonic maelstrom, for a brief time played with  various hilt styles popular in France and Great Britain, who, in the relatively short span of 20 years or so, have been both her allies and the adversaries. As a result, sword hilts in the grand French fashion, along with the British-styled spadroons  and 1796 light cavalry sabers found their niche with the Spanish officer class during the Napoleonic Wars. Yet, after toying with these influences, Spain had eventually returned to her own vernacular, evolutionary to the earlier styles, with characteristic hilts, both archaic and endearing.  The Napoleonic collector will be happy to properly ascribe the names and models of the swords and sabers carried by the Spanish in the Peninsular War, and the naval collector will surely appreciate the inclusion of the scarcely-seen Real Armada officers’ regulation small-swords and from the Cape St.Vincent and Trafalgar era.
After the defeat of Napoleon, Spain was largely cut off from the division of the world between her former allies and adversaries Britain and France, yet, largely forgotten today, she had continued to fight dozens of wars in the Eastern Hemisphere, and, to preserve her colonies in the Central and South America, defended herself against the numerous revolutions, which required soldiers, officers and the swords to arm them.  The relegation of Spain as a second-rate European power after the cessation of the Napoleonic wars did not seem to affect its small-arms making industry and the various governmental bureaucracies in charge of procurement of the patterned edged weapons. The variety of different hilts, blade styles and decorations on the Spanish martial swords of that period is simply breathtaking, rivaled only by the French swords, in the sheer volume of different designs and styles.
A collector interested in the Spanish-American War will find the sections on military swords illuminating, if only to finally find out which swords, sabers and machetes were carried by the Spanish in Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines at the time of hostilities.  Especially endearing is a selection of the Spanish infantry officers’ machetes for Cuba. Most of these unique, custom-made pieces were produced for export by various German makers, who had utilized a variety of materials in constructing the hilts of these machetes; from brass, alpaca and horn to ivory, silver and gold. Ranging from gaudy to stunning, these pieces must be seen to be appreciated.
The last section of the book deals with the 19th and 20th c. swords utilized by the various armed and civilian societies and professional organizations, as well as the Civic and National Guard.  I, for instance, immediately found an answer to a question that plagued me for a while – a sword hilt displaying an emblem consisting of an anchor grappled on a stone bridge turned out to be a dress style prescribed for the engineers of roadways, canals and ports. 
  The qualms are not many, the obvious one being that the book is only in Spanish, which is quite understandable, given the almost esoteric subject matter. Nevertheless, an English edition would definitely be a more universal tool for the collectors around the world. Also, those interested in bayonets will find only the late 19th-20th century examples covered, and none of the Iberian plug bayonets. Spanish navajas and cuchillos are not covered at all, and would make up a book of similar, if not an even larger size. It must be stressed that this book is not an in-depth study of the makers and markings of the Spanish swords, but is a pictorial encyclopedia spanning four centuries, and a long-overdue research implement for the collectors, museums and antique sword dealers alike, and should answer most questions regarding the correct attributions of hundreds of various patterns and models of the Spanish martial and civilian swords.