It's All a Game

A Short History of Board Games

Tristan Donovan

$27.99

Paperback

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English

Atlantic Books
03 December 2019

'Timely... wonderfully entertaining' - The Wall Street Journal

In It's All A Game renowned games expert Tristan Donovan opens the box on the incredible and often surprising history and psychology of board games. He traces the evolution of the game across cultures, time periods, and continents, from the paranoid Chicago toy genius behind classics like Operation and Mouse Trap, to the role of Monopoly in helping prisoners of war escape the Nazis, and even the scientific use of board games today to teach artificial intelligence how to reason and how to win. With these compelling stories and characters, Donovan ultimately reveals why board games have captured hearts and minds all over the world for generations.

By: Tristan Donovan
Imprint: Atlantic Books
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Edition: Main
Dimensions: Height: 198mm, Width: 130mm, Spine: 25mm
Weight: 330g
ISBN: 9781786494542
ISBN 10: 178649454X
Pages: 336
Publication Date: 03 December 2019
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

0: Introduction 1: TOMB RAIDERS AND THE LOST GAMES OF THE ANCIENTS 2: CHESS: THE 'MAD QUEEN'S GAME' 3: BACKGAMMON: THE FAVOURED GAME OF INTERNATIONAL PACESETTERS AND ANCIENT EMPERORS 4: THE GAME OF LIFE: A JOURNEY TO THE UNIQUELY AMERICAN DAY OF RECKONING 5: THE FORGOTTEN MESSAGE OF MONOPOLY 6: FROM KRIEGSSPIEL TO RISK: BLOOD-SOAKED AND WORLDSHAPING PLAY 7: I SPY 8: CLUEDO'S BILLION-DOLLAR CRIME SPREE 9: SCRABBLE: WORDS WITHOUT MEANING 10: PLASTIC FANTASTIC: MOUSE TRAP, OPERATION AND THE WILLY WONKA OF TOYS 13: RISE OF THE MACHINES: GAMES THAT TRAIN SYNTHETIC BRAINS 14: TRIVIAL PURSUIT: ADULTS AT PLAY 15: PANDEMICS AND TERROR: DISSECTING GEOPOLITICS ON CARDBOARD 16: MADE IN GERMANY: CATAN AND THE CREATION OF MODERN BOARD GAMES

Tristan Donovan is a journalist whose work has appeared on the BBC, in The Times, and in Wired amongst other publications. He lives in Brighton, UK.

Reviews for It's All a Game: A Short History of Board Games

[A] timely book... It's All a Game provides a wonderfully entertaining trip around the board, through 4,000 years of game history. * The Wall Street Journal * A brisk and hugely readable account of some of the world's great board games and the amazing people who played them. Packed with fascinating tales from ancient Egyptian senet to Google's AlphaGo. Highly recommended. -- Ian Stewart, author of SIGNIFICANT FIGURES