Board and Table Games from Many Civilizations (Paperback)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Encyclopedic work on 182 different games: Ma-jong, Hazard, Wei-ch'i (go), Backgammon, Pachisi, many others. Over 300 illustrations.

---

Product Details Paperback: 448 pages Publisher: Dover Publications; Rev Sub edition (February 1, 1980) Language: English ISBN-10: 0486238555 ISBN-13: 978-0486238555 Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews) Amazon.com Sales Rank: #712,659 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

---

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

› Visit Amazon's R. C. Bell Page

---

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

	34% buy Discovering Old Board Games (Shire Discovering) $10.16
	22% buy A History of Board-games Other Than Chess
	16% buy Secret Games of the Gods: Ancient Ritual Systems in Board Games 3.8 out of 5 stars (4) $16.95
	14% buy The Book of Games: Strategy, Tactics & History 2.7 out of 5 stars (6) $21.86

Explore similar items

---

Tags Customers Associate with This Product  (What's this?) Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people. Check the boxes next to the tags you consider relevant or enter your own tags in the field below.  games book(1) Your tags: Add your first tag

Search Products Tagged with   See most popular tags

---

Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store

If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store. Learn more

---

 

Customer Reviews

4 Reviews 5 star:    (0) 4 star:  (3) 3 star:  (1) 2 star:    (0) 1 star:    (0)           Average Customer Review 3.8 out of 5 stars (4 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews 15 of 15 people found the following review helpful: 4.0 out of 5 stars A bit old, but a good starting point., August 22, 2000 By  T. Enst - See all my reviews    Though printed in the 1960s, this book provides information for numerous board and table (meaning, for example, dice) games from around the world. Some history is given, where available, regarding the games and their evolution, but for the most part the focus is on how the games are (or were) played, and their variants. Most facinating about this work is the attention payed to games which appear to have died out. Naturally the rules for these games, if even known at all, tend to be incomplete and for anyone who wishes to reconstruct how the game was played will need to do so on their own. It should also be noted that not everyone's favorite rules are listed (for example, the rules for Mankala listed are quite a bit different from the rules many may be using in at least the US today). Even so, the large number of games mentioned, as well as the references used by the author to research them, will likely satisfy the curiosity of people looking to understand something about the world-wide phenomenon of gaming. 22 of 27 people found the following review helpful: 4.0 out of 5 stars Good encyclopedia of traditional board games, September 3, 1997 By  [e-mail] (Mason City, IA, USA) - See all my reviews This is an excellent book if your into playing board games ( the Chess/checkers/Backgammon kind rather than the Monopoly/Careers kind). This book has 15o+ traditional board games from around the world, some ancient and many very fun to play! If your into other cultures or just want something different to play, its a good book. A number of ones not in standard American repertoire, in this book: Go, an unusual oriental game said to be on par with Chess(still unbeaten by computers) Chinese, Japanese, Burmese and Arab versions of Chess, and the ancient ancestor of them all. Hnefa-tafl, a clever Viking game Latrunculi, the Roman's game of intellect Mancala and co., a very weird and very fun group of games, called "the National Game of Africa" OK, I'm outta time here, ya get the idea ;) 7 of 7 people found the following review helpful: 4.0 out of 5 stars From the Board Games Editor at BellaOnline.com, December 4, 2005 By  Megan Romer (Ithaca, NY) - See all my reviews This is a great book, although I recommend it more for reference than for reading cover-to-cover. It's been around since 1960 and is certainly a classic in the genre. Among the games it covers are games that will be familiar to most players: Checkers, Chess, Pachisi (aka Parcheesi), Backgammon, and Cribbage. It also covers some that will be familiar to avid gamers: Mancala, Go, Shogi, Nine Men's Morris, Alquerque. Then there is the plethora of games and versions of games that most people have never heard of, either because they are only played in very specific areas of the world, or because they haven't been played in hundreds of years. All in all, if you can afford the relatively cheap price tag, this game will make a nice addition to your bookshelf. It's not necessarily essential, but it does make for a great reference work.		Ad feedback   Most Recent Customer Reviews 3.0 out of 5 stars Fairly close to great, but somewhats hort I've constantly been searching for a concise book covering a wide range of the games of the world. This book comes fairly close to doing that in a good, inobtuse manner. Read more Published on December 14, 2003 by lastfeint Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews

---

Customer Discussions

This product's forum Discussion Replies Latest Post No discussions yet Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight Start a new discussion Topic: First post: Receive e-mail when new posts are made Prompts for sign-in   Guidelines Active discussions in related forums Discussion Replies Latest Post games Best RPG Ever 190 3 days ago games SHOULD SEX BE IN VIDEO GAMES? 558 4 days ago sports Best High School Football Film Ever????? 4 4 days ago sports The Greatest College footbal program of all time. 109 7 days ago games "Borderlands" and 2 other products newly tagged games 0 7 days ago games Attention ALL retro gamers and nes, genesis, atari, arcade, dreamcast, saturn, ps1, and snes players 2 11 days ago sports Authentic Football Jerseys at Low Prices 9 16 days ago Search Customer Discussions Search all Amazon discussions

The Sports community Latest activity 4 hours ago 4,385 customers have contributed 5,057 products, 50 discussions and more... › Explore the community The Games community Latest activity 2 hours ago 13,648 customers have contributed 11,822 products, 1,058 lists & guides and more... › Explore the community Related forums games (63 discussions) puzzles and... (2 discussions) sports (50 discussions) Explore more › See all Customer Communities › Your communities

---

Listmania!

Weblogs: Blogs, Bloggers, and Blogging: A list by Kip Piper "Medicare & Medicaid Consultant"   Chess Variants: A list by George R Dekle "Bob Dekle"   Customer Service: A list by R Prieto "rp4pr" Create a Listmania! list

Search Listmania!

---

So You'd Like to...

Create a new board game: A guide by K. Sampanthar "Inventor of ThinkCube"   play a board game.: A guide by Mark Gaines   Learn about the history of games: A guide by Greg Costikyan Create a guide

Search Guides

---

Product Information from the Amapedia Community

Beta (What's this?)

Be the first person to add an article about this item at Amapedia.com.

› See featured Amapedia.com articles

---

Look for Similar Items by Category

• Books > Entertainment > Puzzles & Games > Board Games
• Books > Entertainment > Puzzles & Games > Card Games

---

Look for Similar Items by Subject

Search Books by subject:
Indoor Games
Games
Games / Gamebooks / Crosswords
Games/Puzzles
Board
Card Games - General
Games / Board
Games / Card Games / General
Board games
Handbooks, manuals, etc
Hobbies, Pastimes & Indoor Games


i.e., each book must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...

Ad feedback

 

Feedback If you need help or have a question for Customer Service, contact us.  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images? Is there any other feedback you would like to provide? Your comments can help make our site better for everyone. Please note that we are unable to respond directly to all feedback submitted via this form, but we'll ask you to sign in so we can contact you if needed.

Your Recent History

 (What's this?)

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.

› View and edit your browsing history

Get to Know Us Careers Investor Relations Press Releases Amazon and Our Planet Make Money with Us Sell on Amazon Join Associates Self-publish with Us › See all Let Us Help You Shipping Rates & Policies Amazon Prime Returns Help

Canada | China | France | Germany | Japan | United Kingdom  And don't forget: Amazon Windowshop | AmazonWireless | Askville | Audible | DPReview | Endless | IMDb | Shopbop | SoundUnwound | Warehouse Deals by Amazon | Zappos Conditions of Use | Privacy Notice  © 1996-2009, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates

Product Details

• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Dover Publications; Rev Sub edition (February 1, 1980)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0486238555
• ISBN-13: 978-0486238555
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #712,659 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A bit old, but a good starting point., August 22, 2000

By	T. Enst - See all my reviews

Though printed in the 1960s, this book provides information for numerous board and table (meaning, for example, dice) games from around the world. Some history is given, where available, regarding the games and their evolution, but for the most part the focus is on how the games are (or were) played, and their variants.

Most facinating about this work is the attention payed to games which appear to have died out. Naturally the rules for these games, if even known at all, tend to be incomplete and for anyone who wishes to reconstruct how the game was played will need to do so on their own. It should also be noted that not everyone's favorite rules are listed (for example, the rules for Mankala listed are quite a bit different from the rules many may be using in at least the US today). Even so, the large number of games mentioned, as well as the references used by the author to research them, will likely satisfy the curiosity of people looking to understand something about the world-wide phenomenon of gaming.

22 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good encyclopedia of traditional board games, September 3, 1997

By	[e-mail] (Mason City, IA, USA) - See all my reviews

This is an excellent book if your into playing board games ( the Chess/checkers/Backgammon kind rather than the Monopoly/Careers kind). This book has 15o+ traditional board games from around the world, some ancient and many very fun to play! If your into other cultures or just want something different to play, its a good book. A number of ones not in standard American repertoire, in this book: Go, an unusual oriental game said to be on par with Chess(still unbeaten by computers) Chinese, Japanese, Burmese and Arab versions of Chess, and the ancient ancestor of them all. Hnefa-tafl, a clever Viking game Latrunculi, the Roman's game of intellect Mancala and co., a very weird and very fun group of games, called "the National Game of Africa" OK, I'm outta time here, ya get the idea ;)

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars From the Board Games Editor at BellaOnline.com, December 4, 2005

By	Megan Romer (Ithaca, NY) - See all my reviews

This is a great book, although I recommend it more for reference than for reading cover-to-cover. It's been around since 1960 and is certainly a classic in the genre. Among the games it covers are games that will be familiar to most players: Checkers, Chess, Pachisi (aka Parcheesi), Backgammon, and Cribbage. It also covers some that will be familiar to avid gamers: Mancala, Go, Shogi, Nine Men's Morris, Alquerque. Then there is the plethora of games and versions of games that most people have never heard of, either because they are only played in very specific areas of the world, or because they haven't been played in hundreds of years.

All in all, if you can afford the relatively cheap price tag, this game will make a nice addition to your bookshelf. It's not necessarily essential, but it does make for a great reference work.