Description
Book SynopsisFrom ancient riddles to modern Sudoku, people have been fascinated by puzzles. Whether they are seen as a glorious waste of time, a harmless way to spend a train journey or a valuable way of exercising the mind, the lure of puzzles has been irresistible.
By using over a hundred examples of the most mindbending, the most challenging, the most satisfying, or simply the most humorous of puzzles throughout the ages, William Hartston traces the development of brainteasers of all varieties and the increasing ingenuity of puzzle setters from ancient civilisations to modern puzzle crazes.
Trade ReviewIf you love quizzes,
A Brief History of Puzzles by William Hartston will let you know whom to thank. Competently charting the development of riddles, crosswords and logic problems, from the Sphinx to sudoku, it offers examples to illustrate each great leap forward in the history of brain-teasing. * Literary Review *
Table of Contents0: Primeval Puzzle Prelude 1: Medieval Maths, Mysteries and Merriment 2: Parisian Perplexities, Problems and Posers 3: The Great Victorian Puzzlers 4: Puzzles Worthy of the Name 5: More Word Puzzles 6: The Logic of Hats 7: The Most Baffling Logic of All 8: Weights, Measures, Speed 9: Psychological Puzzles 10: Miscellaneous and Mysterious 11: The Prize Puzzle 12: Solutions
