Sharpen your tool knowledge

At first glance, you might think this large-format, photo-rich work is a coffee-table book -- high on pretty pictures, low on information. But you’d be mistaken.

Credit the author and illustrator for producing a terrific book that covers the basics (blade materials to edge grinds) and delves deeply into the history of knives, from tools (think Swiss Army) to combat and survival knives.

Does the book tell all there is to know? No, and it doesn’t weigh 50,000 pounds and cost $20,000, either. But as an illustrated encyclopedia, “Knives” lives up to its billing.

-- Scott Doggett