Preface; PART ONE; THE FIRST METALS; Chapter one; The Extraction of the First Metals; Chapter two; The Smelting of Iron and the Production of Steel; Chapter three; Different Ways of Making Steel--Eastern and Western Steelmaking; PART two; THE FIRST EUROPEAN SWORDS; Chapter four; Celtic and Roman Swords; Chapter FIVE; Pattern-Welding; PART three; THE "DARK" AGES IN EUROPE; Chapter six; The Revival of Science in Europe; Chapter seven; The Survival of Technology From the Ancient World; Chapter eight; Viking-Age Swords and Their Inscriptions; PART FOUR; STEEL ARMOUR AND SWORDS
Chapter nineThe Invention of the Blast Furnace and Finery; Chapter ten; Bloomery Steel and the Development of All-Steel Swords after 1400; Chapter eleven; The Mass-Production of Steel for Swords and Armour; Chapter twelve; The Decoration of Swords by Etching and Gilding; Chapter thirteen; Medieval European swords after 1000; Further reading; Index
Summary
The sword was the most important of weapons, but relatively little has been written about its metallurgy. The results of the microscopic examination of over a hundred swords are used to tell the story of the making of swords from the first examples through the Middle Ages to the 16th century
