These weapons have had a place in both literature and the history of technology since the second millenium BCE. The killing in the Iliad is mostly done with spears but there are enough mentions to believe the weapons were around by 800 BCE, if not before. Mr. Davidson concentrates on the weapon in England, with some mention of Ireland, Wales and Scotland. The references are well assembled, and the processes he surmises and describes are quite likely, so it is no surprise this book has been reprinted in this millenium. The prose is not lively. ( )