Knife is a love-letter to this essential culinary tool - its form, history and creation. The knife can be the most functional utensil or the most exquisite piece of design - avid collectors pay jaw-dropping sums for a piece of Japanese hand-crafted steel, made according to traditions that date back thousands of years.

'This is possibly the coolest book I have ever seen. Glorious in content, geeky in text and engaging in photography. This is every cook's must-have reference book! I love it.' Tom Kerridge

Through interviews with knife-makers, chefs and collectors, acclaimed food writer Tim Hayward explores how the relationship between cook and blade has shaped both the knife itself, and the ways we prepare and eat food all over the world. From Damascus blades to Chinese cleavers and sushi knives, at the heart of Knife is a fascinating guide to 40 different types of knife, each with its own unique story, detailed description and stunning photographs.

'Tim Hayward is the most serious cookery writer I know. Whatever he says, I will listen. Whatever he writes, I will buy' Len Deighton

Lavishly illustrated and designed, and as cool, personal and desirable as the most intricately crafted deba, Knife opens up the world of this most covetable of culinary implements.

'Tim is the sharpest blade in the food world', Simon Schama

'a gleaming, razor-sharp paean to the chef s greatest weapon in Knife by Tim Hayward. Both eloquent and encyclopaedic, Knife is the ultimate book of blades'Tom Parker Bowles, Mail on Sunday