The samurai’s history and legacy, Angela Merkel’s 21st-century military and a new aviation festival

A new exhibition at the British Museum explores the mythmaking of Japan’s feudal warriors

In the 1500s, Japan was fought over by hundreds of rival warlords. They battled for territory and power, resulting in a century of near-constant war, until the Tokugawa shoguns won a decisive victory

Exhibition of the week Gwen John: Strange Beauties ...

There’s no shortage of great picks at this year’s TEFAF Maastricht, the Netherlands, including a Barbara Hepworth sculpture, a pastel portrait by Dora Maar and two sections of 4th-century Roman mosaics

It’s a sunny summer afternoon in a verdant corner of the Essex countryside. A pretty pastoral landscape lies before us, with cattle sheltering in the shade of oak trees, rolling green fields, and a gr