The Oxford History of Board Games

The Oxford History of Board Games
Author :
Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages : 410
Release :
ISBN-10 : UOM:39015059586043
ISBN-13 :
Rating : 4/5 (43 Downloads)

Book Synopsis The Oxford History of Board Games by : David Parlett

Download or read book The Oxford History of Board Games written by David Parlett and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 1999 with total page 410 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For thousands of years, people have been planning attacks, captures, chases, and conquests - on a variety of different boards designed for an astonishing diversity of games. Today the compelling mix of strategy, skill, and chance is as strong as ever; new board games are invented almost daily,while the perennial favourites continue to attract new devotees and reveal new possibilities. The Oxford History of Board Games investigates the principles of board games throughout the ages and across the world, exploring the fascinating similarities and differences that give each its unique appeal, and drawing out the significance of game-playing as a central part of human experience - asvital to a culture as its music, dance, and tales. Beautifully illustrated and with diagrams to show the finer points of the games, this is a fascinating and accessible guide to a richly rewarding subject. In his trade-mark accessible, entertaining style, David Parlett looks at the different families of games: games based on configuration or connection, races or chases, wars or hunts, capture or blockade. He focuses mainly on traditional games, the folk entertainments that have grown up organicallythrough the centuries, and which exhibit endless local variations, although he discusses also the commercial products that have tried, with varying degrees of success, to match their astonishing popularity. This is not primarily a how-to book, although the rules and strategies of certain games are discussed in detail, neither does it offer sure-fire tips for success, although with a fuller understanding of a game the reader will undoubtedly become a better-informed, if not better, player. Rather, itis an affectionate and authoritative survey of one of the most familiar parts of our cultural history, which has until now been inexplicably neglected.


The Oxford History of Board Games Related Books

The Oxford History of Board Games
Language: en
Pages: 410
Authors: David Parlett
Categories: Games & Activities
Type: BOOK - Published: 1999 - Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

For thousands of years, people have been planning attacks, captures, chases, and conquests - on a variety of different boards designed for an astonishing divers
Parlett's History of Board Games
Language: en
Pages: 400
Authors: David Parlett
Categories: Crafts & Hobbies
Type: BOOK - Published: 2018-11-07 - Publisher: Echo Point Books & Media

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Focuses on different families of traditional games and folk entertainments, with some discussion of rules and strategies.
It's All a Game
Language: en
Pages: 296
Authors: Tristan Donovan
Categories: Games & Activities
Type: BOOK - Published: 2017-05-30 - Publisher: Macmillan

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

“[A] timely book . . . a wonderfully entertaining trip around the board, through 4,000 years of game history.” —The Wall Street Journal Board games have b
The Book of Word Games
Language: en
Pages: 260
Authors: David Parlett
Categories: Games & Activities
Type: BOOK - Published: 2012-05 - Publisher: Echo Point Books & Media

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

If you were to imagine your ideal guide to a book of word games, who would you picture? Does an urbane, witty writer come to mind? How about a widely recognized
A History of Card Games
Language: en
Pages: 396
Authors: David Parlett
Categories: Games & Activities
Type: BOOK - Published: 1991 - Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

An historical guide to the card games of Europe and America. It surveys how the games originated and developed, and the rituals and etiquette which surround the