Good encyclopedic/coffee table books covering daggers and military knives?

IcyNoxx

IcyNoxx

Hard dance enjoyer
Joined
May 14, 2024
Messages
17
Ideally lots of pictures, but not required. I'm thinking something similar to the Jane's series for tanks, fighter aircraft etc.

FWIW, I'm coming at this from the POV of a newbie who has only recently started getting interested in this topic.
 
The guy you need to look up is Frank Trzaska. I don’t know if he’s written any books, but he’s edited some and contributed as well. Probably knows more about military knives than anyone else in New Jersey, perhaps the entire US.

Parker
 
Agree with catspa that Frank Trzaska is exceptionally knowledgeable about U.S. military knives (and possibly others as well). He's written a ton of articles for Knife Magazine and its predecessor and much of his knowledge is available on his website (http://www.usmilitaryknives.com/). I don't think he's written a book. If you're interested in US military knives, M.H. Cole's books feature some outstanding line drawings and several books by Mike Silvey have some excellent photos.
 
Richard Burtons's The Book of the Sword (first published in 1884) is a classic that belongs in every knife nerd's collection. Still relevant. Another is William Gilkerson's Boarders Away: With Steel-Edged Weapons and Polearms.
 
catspa said:
The guy you need to look up is Frank Trzaska. I don’t know if he’s written any books, but he’s edited some and contributed as well. Probably knows more about military knives than anyone else in New Jersey, perhaps the entire US.

Parker
Click to expand...
I agree about Frank, although he now lives in PA. John
 
For a book on French knives I would recommend "French Military Knives and Bayonets" by Christian Mer. Mike Silvey has written several books on U.S. Military knives that are all good too. John
 
The best coffee table book I ever read was about man hole covers! It was surprisingly fascinating.

I don’t know of any good ones about knives.

I had honestly forgotten about coffee table books. They were great things to occupy your mind when nothing else was going on. Another thing lost to smart phones and tablets.
 
Last edited:
Forget the authors but some books areTheater Made Knives Of WWII, Military Knives of Vietnam, and Knives of the Civil war.
 
Brett's book is great. Englishman Ron Flook has some good ones, The "London Knife Book" and "British and Commonwealth Military Knives" being the standouts. MH Cole's books still have something to offer, as do the Mike Silvey books. Bill Wright's Theater Made Knives book is interesting, as is DE Henry's Collins Bowies and Machetes. Also Gilkerson's "Boarder's Away I" dealing with pre-1850's Navel edged weapons.

Bowie Knives - Flayderman's "Bowie Knife" book, The Antique Bowie Knife book, and Zalesky's "A Sure Defense" are all solid.

General knowledge - Levine's Guide is still king probably the best general primer. Ken Warner's "Practical Book of Knives" series, and Steven Dick's "The Working Folding Knife" are also excellent.

Frank Trzaska's an excellent researcher and writer, but he mainly does it for the magazines (Knife World, and later Knife mainly). The best collection of some of these is "Knife World Presents Military Knives".

--------------------------------------

My list meandered a bit, and some of those are a tiny bit special interest, and a few have gotten expensive price wise, but they're the ones I'd hand to some looking for a broad general and military knife knowledge.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top