John Waldman, M.D. received his B.A. from Yale University in 1954 and his M.D. from the University of Basel, Switzerland in 1962. He is an independent scholar of early arms and armor and of prints of an early period.

This archival source document of the Middle Ages and Renaissance describes the development, manufacture and use of European staff weapons and provides new information using existing objects and archival material. Their effect on the modern map of Europe is discussed.