Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling - Hardcover

Schwartz, David G.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1592402089 ISBN 13: 9781592402083

Publisher: Gotham, 2006

Synopsis

A narrative chronicle traces gambling's early emergence from divination rituals through its modern incarnation as a global and cultural diversion, in an account that documents such topics as the practice of casting lots, the invention of playing cards in twelfth-century China, and the role of organized crime in illegal gambling operations.

About this title

About the Author

David G. Schwartz was born in Atlantic City, where he has worked in casino security and surveillance. After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania, he earned his Ph.D. in United States history from UCLA. He is currently the director of the Center for Gaming Research at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and is the author of the academic books Cutting the Wire and Suburban Xanadu. He is a consultant and frequent commentator on gambling and related issues.

From the Back Cover

Advance Praise for Roll the Bones

"Roll the Bones is a comprehensive and compelling look at the history of risk-taking a necessary book in our age of plutonium poker, state lotteries, and billion-dollar Internet gaming sites. David Schwartz, a serious historian writing for a general audience, illuminates an urge we feel deep in our cells."
From the Foreword by James McManus, author of Positively Fifth Street

"Simultaneously entertaining, informative, and provocative, Roll the Bones looks through the veils of luxury, elegance, and pleasure that surround mankind s obsession with lady luck, to give a panoramic view of generations of gamblers, from the Caesars of Imperial Rome to Caesar s Palace in Las Vegas. Behind the lively narrative is a mass of information on the origin and rules of most popular games of chance, and a thoughtful analysis of the place of gambling in the 21st century."
Iain Gately, author of Tobacco: A Cultural History of How an Exotic Plant Seduced Civilization

"David Schwartz has written a masterful and encyclopedic history of gambling, from hunter- gathering peoples to the tourists on the twenty-first-century Las Vegas Strip. Throughout Schwartz maintains an accessible writing style with plenty of enjoyable anecdotes. Both the professional historian and the average reader will find the work rewarding."
Larry Gragg, author of Englishmen Transplanted and The Salem Witch Crises

"Roll the Bones is an impressive telling of our journey with gambling, from its evolutionary beginnings to today a great read for both the serious student of gambling history and the merely curious. This book will become the gold standard of gambling history."
Crandell Addington, championship poker legend and member of the Poker Hall of Fame

Reviews

This comprehensive and often entertaining history of gambling begins with the origins of odds and evens as an ancient divination "game" and ends with the 21st-century Internet gambling phenomenon. Schwartz, a historian at the University of Nevada's Center for Gaming Research, gets credit not only for his thoroughness in describing the development of gambling in Western Europe and the U.S., but also for including gambling in Native American, Chinese and other non-Western cultures. Similarly inclusive is his examination of the doctrinal attitudes of each of the world's major religions toward the human penchant for gambling. Schwartz adds interesting anecdotes, even if likely apocryphal: aces, for instance, supposedly became superior to kings as a result of 18th-century French revolutionary fervor. But this thoroughness leads Schwartz to devote too much space to the rules of archaic games of chance and to the exploits of famous and not- so-famous gamblers. Although he doesn't ignore the underside—such as compulsive gambling and cheating—this aspect is underdeveloped. Also, a more in-depth inquiry into why people gamble and the societal impact of government-sponsored gambling, such as lotteries, would have made this encyclopedic effort even more complete. (Oct.)
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Edition details

• Publisher: Gotham
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 1592402089
• ISBN 13: 9781592402083
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 592