Description

‘BRILLIANTLY CLEAR AND CAPTIVATING PROSE’ STEPHEN FRY

A WATERSTONES BOOK OF YEAR 2023

An award-winning mathematician explores the maths behind the games we love and why we love to play them.

Where should you move first in Connect 4?

Which property is best in Monopoly?

How can pi help you win Rock Paper Scissors?

Crossing oceans, continents and millennia, award-winning mathematician Marcus du Sautoy explores how maths and games have always been deeply intertwined. As well as being integral to human psychology and culture throughout the ages, games provided the first opportunities for deep mathematical insight into the world. This grand adventure teaches us how to strategise, play better and win more often.

‘The subject matter is fun (I mean, isn’t it quite literally the definition of fun?) and du Sautoy’s enthusiasm is infectious’ THE SUNDAY TIMES

‘Lively, creative and humane – exactly as one would expect from Marcus du Sautoy’ TIM HARFORD, author of How To Make The World Add Up

‘A delightful and addictive celebration of games. You’ll keep wanting one more go’ DARA O BRIAIN, author of Is There Anybody Out There?

‘You do not need to be a seasoned player nor a skilled mathematician to relish this enchanting read. However, this book may just encourage you to become one or the other’ REINER KNIZIA, award-winning game designer

Publisher Review

‘Marcus du Sautoy’s brilliantly clear and captivating prose manages to bring to life the drama of so many different games. With the lightest of touches du Sautoy manages persuasively to show how games are both narratives that speak about us and structures whose ideas underlie everything in our known universe. And on top of it, the book serves as an absolutely indispensable compendium. Rainy weekends in Cornwall will now be welcomed’ Stephen Fry

‘The book encapsulates the very essence of human ingenuity and our intrinsic love for play and exploration. You do not need to be a seasoned player nor a skilled mathematician to relish this enchanting read. However, this book may just encourage you to become the one or the other’ Reiner Knizia, award-winning game designer

‘Du Sautoy’s enthusiasm is infectious … perhaps it will ignite a search for new gaming horizons beyond lazy Cluedo sessions on Boxing Day. It may even awaken a recognition in those who don’t see themselves as gaming fans that it’s not that they are fundamentally averse to games, it’s that they have yet to find the right one’Sunday Times

‘The world of games is vast and du Sautoy ranges across it boldly, his lively and engaging style keeping things readable, even for those with non-mathematical minds … An excellent Christmas present for anyone who seriously enjoys playing games’ Literary Review

‘[du Sautoy] thoroughly knows his subject, and he writes with self-effacing charm … A complex package delivered in refreshingly simple and consistently entertaining terms’ Kirkus starred review

‘This meticulous and deeply researched survey will appeal to math-lovers and history buffs alike’ Publishers Weekly