A stimulating and controversial autobiography by arguably the greatest fencer of all time. Before the war, Aldo Nadi led the sort of life as a professional fencer that is inconceivable today, earning a good living by giving three or four exhibition matches a year watched by thousands of paying spectators. For 12 years he challenged and defeated every world and Olympic champion at foil, epee and sabre. In 1923 the great French fencer, Lucien Gaudin, who went on to win both foil and epee titles at the 1928 Olympics, said "No one will defeat Aldo Nadi in the next 20 years." But for the war, he would probably have been right.
In his autobiography Nadi eloquently describes his fencing and amorous encounters as he gambled his way across Europe with a succession of beautiful women. The war destroyed this playboy lifestyle and he spent the last 30 years of his life teaching fencing in America. Although unpublished at his death in 1965, the book was rescued by William Gaugler so that modern fencers can read about Nadi's extraordinary exploits and a way of life that has vanished for ever.
