Started: August 25
Finished: Sept. 1
Notes: As I've read a fair amount pertaining to the history of D&D, I'm not expecting to learn much new here, but as this was just published perhaps there is some new scholarly work of which I'm unaware. I'll give it a try.
Mini review: A more accurate subtitle for this book might have been "How TSR screwed the pooch." In case you don't know, TSR was the company that originally produced and published all things D&D until 1997 when the company Wizards of the Coast bought them out. This is a good book and an interesting read, but it almost entirely focuses upon the business aspects of TSR and a little on WOTC. So, there isn't much here if you're interested in information about game creation, writing, designing, etc. Also, this book wraps things up soon after the purchase of TSR by WOTC, about the time a third edition of D&D was released around the year 2000, and in my opinion that leaves out a lot of possible information for a book that's supposed to be about the history of the D&D game. In other words, a lot more has happened in the last 22 years, including the fate of a fourth edition of the game and then the rise and popularity of the fifth edition of the game, plus changes in book publishing, the nerd/geek world, etc. Perhaps another book would be in order? Regardless, I'll repeat that this is a good book. It should be especially nostalgic for those of us who were playing D&D and tabletop RPGs in the 70s, 80s, and 90s, but this book could also be an interesting read for newer players who want to learn about the past of one of their favorite pastimes.
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