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This edition of The Maltese Falcon was inspired by one of the most ambitious cultural initiatives in United States history—the Armed Services Editions (ASE) of popular books published and distributed to troops on the battlefields of World War II.
These publications, designed to be lightweight, inexpensive to produce, and easy to carry, became extremely popular with deployed soldiers and sailors. Between 1943 and 1947, more than 120 million copies representing over 1,200 titles were printed and distributed to troops in theater. They were read, passed along, bartered for, and hoarded by servicemen around the world. The ASE books were published in a unique horizontal format with simple, bold color palettes which made them lovely as objects and eminently readable as books.
While the ASE catalog contained many mystery novels, Dashiell Hammett’s landmark 1929 hardboiled detective story, The Maltese Falcon, never made the cut. Field Notes felt like that was an oversight, so their book imprint has published the original text of The Maltese Falcon, as serialized in Black Mask magazine, in the Armed Services Edition format. It’s the first new ASE since the program was ended in 1947.
Written by Dashiell Hammett. ASE edition published by Field Notes Books in 2025. Paperback, measures 5.5 x 3.81 inches, 271 pages. ISBN 9780985831639
