It's All a Game

May 1, 2017
Throw away your preconceived notions and dive into this rich story that informs who we are by the games we play. Donovan delivers the history of board games from ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, and prehistoric sub-Saharan Africa, where royalty and commoners used games to contact the afterlife as well as for recreation, through the golden age of Anglo-American tabletop games. Each chapter is a thematic essay that stands alone but also artfully weaves together culture, business, and ways games impact society. For example, the chapter on chess begins in fourth-century India and goes to Deep Blue's AI victory over Garry Kasparov in 1997. This history of games is perfect for the budding social scientist, the casual reader, or someone looking to impress party guests with trivia knowledge. There is a wonderful introduction that takes the reader from a chess plaza in New York City's Washington Square to gaming cafes surrounding it, but the book lacks a conclusion to tie everything together. Donovan demonstrates that, like libraries, board games thrive in a world of smart phones and technology.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)