David Parlett

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

With Penguin's classic card game compendium, rainy days never looked so good Whether you are a cardsharp or online-poker wannabe, The Penguin Book of Card Games has everything you will ever need to know about playing cards. From games of high skill (Bridge) to games of high chance (Newmarket) to trick-taking (Whist) and banking (Pontoon), David Parlett, a seasoned card-game specialist, gives you countless games to play. With a working description of each game, including the rules, variations, and origins of each, this book will delight, entertain, and inform both the novice and the experienced player.

The Penguin Book of Card Games

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 them.

A History of Card Games

Aces Up and 399 Other Card Games

Solitaire

The author of five books on games and card games explains more than 30 card games, including classics such as bridge and rummy, international games such as skat, and numerous new and challenging skill testers.

Card Games

There are hundreds of card games available to appeal to all tastes - from the intellectual intricacies of Bridge to the psychological excitement of Poker. This book includes the classics, games from abroad and timeless favourites.

An Authoritative Collection of Card Game Classics, Favourites and Recent Discoveries for Beginners, Regulars and Explorers

Learning a Language Alone

Hundreds of solitaire games drawn from centuries of card history are clearly explained and organized according to logically related groups

Surveys the origins and development of card games played throughout the world, describing unusual games and shedding new light on such popular games as poker, bridge, and cribbage

The Oxford Guide to Card Games

The Penguin Book of Card Games is the authoritative up-to-date compendium, describing an abundance of games to be played both for fun and by serious players. Auctions, trumpless hands, cross-ruffing and lurching: card players have a language all of their own. From games of high skill (Bridge) to games of high chance (Newmarket) to trick-taking (Whist) and banking (Pontoon), David Parlett, seasoned specialist in card games, takes us masterfully through the countless games to choose from. Not content to merely show us games with the conventional fifty-two card pack, Parlett covers many games played with other types of cards - are you brave enough to play with Tarot? With a 'working description' of each game, with the rules, variations and origins of each, as well as an appendix of games invented by the author himself, The Penguin Book of Card Games will delight, entertain and inform both the novice and the seasoned player.

David Parlett

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