The New Illustrated Encyclopedia of Billiards: Completely Revised and Updated [Paperback]

Michael Ian Shamos (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2002

The most comprehensive book on the games played by forty million Americans. (SEE QUOTE.)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

This is a revised and updated edition of Shamos's 1992 encyclopedia, researched both from library holdings and the author's own extensive archives of historical materials on billiards and all other cue sports. Clearly written entries on games and their rules, particular shots, cue sports' paraphernalia, and arcane terminology of the field are listed alphabetically, with plentiful See references. Entries also conveniently include citations to original source material and are well illustrated with photographs, shot diagrams, and period graphics. Among the appendixes are a compilation of significant statistics in billiards and lists of over 400 games and roughly 100 organizations included in the text. An index to names and an extensive bibliography complete the volume. This encyclopedia is an amazingly thorough and entertaining reference that would be welcome in any library's collection. (Index not seen.)--John M. Maxymuk, Rutgers Univ. Lib., Camden, NJ
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"This may be the best review of any game or sport ever published... at once authoritative, surprising, and witty."
--Robert Byrne, author of Byrne's Standard Book of Pool and Billiards

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Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: The Lyons Press; 1st edition (October 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1585746851
• ISBN-13: 978-1585746859
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #623,588 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic reference work, and very entertaining, January 9, 2003

By 

S. McCandlish "Webmaster, pool instructor, an... (United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The New Illustrated Encyclopedia of Billiards: Completely Revised (Hardcover)

This is a *great* reference on the terminology, history, and facts of pool, billiards, snooker and other cue sports, written by the curator of the Billiard Archive (i.e., he knows what he's talking about.) Stein & Rubino's "The Billiard Encyclopedia" is much larger, but the works are complementary. Shamos's is an alphabetical glossary, not unlike Britannica's "Micropedia", while the S&R volume (now in its 3rd edition) is a sprawling narrative, divided into topical chapters (history of the sport, cuemaking, etc.) I can't recommend them both enough. The Shamos book is a "workhorse" reference (unlike S&R beautiful coffee table book) - it's purpose is looking up billiards terminology. This revised version is a substantive improvement on the original (and beware: that edition has been published under multiple titles by different publishers). The trade paperback version is more affordable than the hardback, but I'm really happy to have the hardback version; I would have thrashed a softcover with overuse by now. Shamos, a regular "Billiards Digest" history columnist is a hardcore researcher, and digs up really fascinating bits of information both in his column every months and in massive quantities in this book.

5.0 out of 5 stars could not be better, September 24, 2011

By 

Joyce (Santa Cruz County, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The New Illustrated Encyclopedia of Billiards: Completely Revised and Updated (Paperback)

I cannot imagine what could be added to this book to make it better. It has everything a person would want or need to know about Billiards.