The Billion Dollar Monopoly (r) Swindle [Paperback]

Ralph Anspach (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0738831395 | ISBN-13: 978-0738831398 | Publication Date: October 10, 2000 | Edition: 2

The court-validated history of the world's most popular board game--embedded in a story of a little guy who took on Corporate America and won. Told with suspense and humor by the professor turned business man turned detective who uncovered the swindle and found the truth. Find out how a woman and a group of Atlantic City Quakers invented Monopoly® only to be deleted from history in a scheme to fatten the corporate bottom line.

"A documentary based on the book is in the works."

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Part detective novel, part history, and part horror story, The Billion Dollar Monopoly® Swindle not only recounts the true history behind one of the world's most popular board games but also reveals a world where the law sometimes seems as arbitrary and unfair as a "Go directly to jail" card. When Ralph Anspach released his game Anti-Monopoly in 1973, he suddenly found himself in the crosshairs of the formidable Parker Brothers legal machine, which claimed that his use of the word monopoly violated copyright laws. While conducting research to gauge the strength of Parker Brothers' case, Anspach discovered that the corporate giant might not even have the rights to the game.

His investigation revealed the existence of a board game called the Landlord's Game that had been played at least 30 years before Parker Brothers published Monopoly in 1935. When Charles B. Darrow was introduced to this game by a group of Quakers, he copied their board and rules verbatim (even duplicating their misspelling of "Marvin Gardens"), then sold it as his own creation. Parker Brothers supported him, putting a copy of the "story of Monopoly" that cited him as creator in every box.

As for the Anti-Monopoly case, Anspach faced down the game moguls in a battle that went all the way to the Supreme Court (and included an unexpected appearance by future independent counsel Kenneth Starr). You can still play Anti-Monopoly today--and Anspach has even started packaging the original version in the game boxes as a bonus. --Matthew Baldwin --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

Written in detective story fashion. . . the professor reconstructed the . . .fraud that Darrow and his Parker Brothers sponsors perpetrated: buying up rival patents, intimidating would be imitators, rewriting history. Anspach has blazed a trail (and) written a great cautionary tale against the trust we too often repose in public relations hype. . .belongs in every summer cottage that now contains a game of Monopoly (or Anti-Monopoly). By far the fullest version yet of a battle that illuminates key elements of American business history from the populism of the 1980s to the . . .1980's. (Anspach) was always something of a swashbucklera teenage refugee from Hitler's Germany who fought for America in the Pacific, then surreptitiously shipped out to Israel for its 1948 war of independence. . ..(He also relates) his early startup difficulties, the search for evidence, the court battles. -- David Warsh, Boston Sunday Globe, August 16, 1998 --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Xlibris; 2 edition (October 10, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0738831395
• ISBN-13: 978-0738831398
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,213,250 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating and Original, September 15, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Billion Dollar Monopoly (R) Swindle (Paperback)

I found this book riveting and very well-written, a startling indictment of not only Parker Brothers (for claiming false invention of a 30-year old folk game and securing a fraudulent patent)but also of the American judicial system, which clearly will roll over and play dead when confronted with an army of corporate lawyers. While the earlier book by Saxon does discuss a precursor to Monopoly, it says nothing about Parker Brothers' underhanded dealings. Nor does it tell the story of how the game fell into the hands of "inventor" Charles Darrow. Another book on the subject by Orbanes (written essentially by and for Parker Bothers/Hasbro) is merely an attempt to whitewash the whole sticky mess so delightfully uncovered by Mr. Anspach. A fine and fascinating read.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A thrilling detective story debunking an American myth., September 8, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Jacksonville, Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Billion Dollar Monopoly (R) Swindle (Paperback)

Anyone who loves Monopoly(R), like I do, and thinks they know the story of the game, like I did, will not be able to put this book down! The official story of the game's origin is a lie. For me, the crushing piece of evidence concerns the correct spelling of MarvEn Gardens. Check it out.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant book !, September 7, 1999

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[e-mail] (Munich , Germany) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Billion Dollar Monopoly (R) Swindle (Paperback)

Have just read Dr Anspach's book from cover to cover without a break. A fascinating expose of what must rank as one of the biggest cover- up stories of all time.

Mr Blub's review is correct in that Saxton's earlier book does report that Lizzie Magie's 1904 Landlords Game was a forerunner to Monopoly. It contains nothing however about the transformation of that game through the monopoly folklore to the Darrow/Parker Bros Atlantic City copy. Nor does it contain anything about the cover- up which has served so well to monopolise Monopoly for so many years.

The book is a product of Dr Anspach's detective work which was validated by the American Courts and is to be commended in stark contrast to the corporate sanctioned Orbanes book. This offering attempts to preserve some credit for Darrow while erroneously( albeit cleverly) exonerating Parker Bros from the swindle.