The sword is the perennial symbol of empires, knighthood, chivalry and fantasy. But it’s also one of the world’s most ancient technologies, connected with breakthroughs in metallurgy that would change ...

The curved steel blades gleamed in the soft gallery lighting, as sharp and vicious-looking as when each was forged hundreds of years ago. The swords were the primary weapons of the samurai, the ...

Today they might play largely ceremonial roles, but for hundreds of years swords were perhaps the most important weapon in any army's arsenal. The development of new sword-tech was, accordingly, ...