There are many authoritative books on card games and chess, but only a handful on the dozens of other games known to mankind. This excellent handbook by R. C. Bell is a basic reference to board and table games from around the world, and one of the two or three finest books ever written on the subject. Originally published in two volumes in the 1960's, it is now available for the first time in a corrected, one-volume edition.
Mr. Bell's encyclopedic work provides the rules and methods of play for 182 different games: Ma-jong, Hazard, Wei-ch'I (Go), backgammon, Wari, Continental draughts, Pachisi, Japanese chess, Bidou, Domino Loo, Cribbage, and many others. Volume one is divided into chapters devoted to race games, war games, games of position, Mancala games, dice games, and domino games; volume two follows the same arrangement and then proceeds to games with numbers, card games requiring boards, and games requiring manual dexterity. Additional information is furnished on making boards and pieces, and on gaming-counters.
Game players, toymakers, and historians of culture will welcome this guided tour of games from Egypt, Meso-America, the Orient, India, Persia, Rome, Africa, Victorian England, and many other societies. Over 300 illustrations, both photographs and line drawings, add an illuminating counterpoint to the text.
INTRODUCTION ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS TO FIRST EDITION ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS TO SECOND EDITION ILLUSTRATIONS GLOSSARY Chapter One: RACE GAMES I. CROSS AND CIRCLE RACE GAMES NYOUT ZOHN AHL PATOLLI PACHISI LUDO 2. SPIRAL RACE GAMES THE HYENA GAME THE ROYAL GAME OF GOOSE 3. SQUARE BOARD RACE GAMES THAAYAM 4. PEG SCORING BOARDS THE PALM TREE GAME 5. THE BACKGAMMON GROUP THE SUMERIAN GAME THE GAME OF THIRTY SQUARES LUDUS DUODECIM SCRIPTORUM TABULA CHASING THE GIRLS TOURNE-CASE SIXE-ACE FAYELES BACKGAMMON Chapter Two: WAR GAMES I. THE ALQUERQUE GROUP ALQUERQUE THE STONE WARRIORS FIGHTING SERPENTS THE SIXTEEN SOLDIERS 2. THE CHESS GROUP SHATURANGA SHATRANJ CIRCULAR OR BYZANTINE CHESS THE COURIER GAME MODERN INTERNATIONAL CHESS THE MAHARAJAH AND THE SEPOYS CHINESE CHESS THE JUNGLE GAME 3. DRAUGHTS ENGLISH DRAUGHTS THE LOSING GAME DIAGONAL DRAUGHTS ITALIAN DRAUGHTS TURKISH DRAUGHTS REVERSI CONTINENTAL OR POLISH DRAUGHTS 4. THE TAFL GROUP FOX AND GEESE TABULT SAXON HNEFATAFL COWS AND LEOPARDS 5. THE LATRUNCULORUM GROUP SEEGA HIGH JUMP LUDUS LATRUNCULORUM 6. RUNNING-FIGHT GAMES TABLAN PULUC Chapter Three: GAMES OF POSITION I. MORRIS GAMES NOUGHTS AND CROSSES THREE MEN'S MORRIS SIX MEN'S MORRIS NINE MEN'S MORRIS 2. THREE-IN-A-ROW GAMES DARA 3. FIVE-IN-A-ROW GAMES GO-MOKU HASAMI SHOGI 4. REPLACEMENT GAMES FIVE FIELD KONO HALMA 5. TERRITORIAL POSSESSION WEI-CH'I 6. PATIENCE GAMES SOLITARE Chapter Four: MANCALA GAMES I. TWO-RANK MANCULA MANKALA'H PALLANGULI WARI 2. FOUR-RANK MANCULA CHISOLO DICE Chapter Five: DICE GAMES DICE I. GAMES WITH TWO-SIDED DICE HEADS AND TAILS THE BOWL GAME 2. GAMES WITH SIX-SIDED DICE THIRTY-SIX PIG ACES IN THE POT BARBUDI HAZARD BUCK DICE MARTINETTI DROP DEAD INDIAN DICE "SHIP, CAPTAIN, MATE AND CREW" SEQUENCES TWENTY-SIX ACES 3. GAMES WITH SPECIAL DICE BELL AND HAMMER CROWN AND ANCHOR LIAR DICE 4. CHINESE DICE GAMES STRUNG FLOWERS THROWING HEAVEN AND NINE PUT AND TAKE Chapter Six: DOMINO GAMES FISHING DISPUTING TENS COLLECTING TENS MA-JONG EUROPEAN DOMINOES THE BLOCK GAME THE BERGEN GAME FORTY-TWO BINGO DOMINO CRIB THE MATADOR GAME CYPRUS TIDDLE-A-WINK Chapter Seven: MAKING BOARDS AND PIECES Appendix: BIOGRAPHIES
