Spadroon - Master of All Weapons, or Perfect Encumbrance?

Loved by some and hated by others. The spadroon was an infantry sword of the 17th-19th century that saw widepread use across Europe and beyond. Here Nick Thomas will delve in to the qualities of such swords, as well as the development of them in the British armed forces, and try to establish whether they really were a great weapon, or a terrible one.