"The Monopolists" is here! and it's a new york times bestseller!

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Don't miss the book excerpt from the New York Times.

"Briskly enlightening...[Pilon] has woven a plush, often humorous tapestry of board-game and social history. Even passages devoted to sick children during the Depression fail to deflate her book’s buoyancy. Her ­empathy lies with Magie, Anspach and ­other creative progressives, but she also plays fair by the Darrow and Parker ­families." —James McManus in The New York Times Book Review (Editor's Choice, a Notable Book of 2015)

"[A] fascinating history . . . The Monopolists lucidly weaves together a multifaceted story . . . [It] builds to an intense pitch - while highlighting several fundamental issues of capitalism. —Los Angeles Times

"Highly entertaining . . . Like Monopoly itself, the book unfolds in interesting directions, probing into lost Quaker communities, the early history of Atlantic City, and how a game originally invented to critique capitalism became its most diverting simulacrum." —Boston Globe

"A legal, corporate and intellectual whodunit . . .The tale, like the game, becomes a parable for American capitalism, with powerful players stamping out competitors and fortunes being made or destroyed at the roll of the dice . . . anyone who grew up playing Monopoly will have a hard time resisting The Monopolists. "—Washington Post, (A Notable Book of 2015)

"In The Monopolists, Ms. Pilon not only tells the strange and at times tragic story of the evolution of America’s favorite board game—she also takes us on a jaunt through turn-of-the-century America, where we learn about such far-flung things as the origins of the price tag, the founding of Atlantic City, and the fact that one of the most coveted addresses in the game was home to some of the earliest gay bars in America. This is a must read for anyone who loves the game, and really, who doesn’t?" —Erik Larson, author of Devil in the White City and In the Garden of Beasts

"What enormous fun this book is! Clever, engaging, finely crafted, and endlessly surprising—and revealing in passing much about the ghastliness of American corporate greed. Much like the game itself, indeed." —Simon Winchester, author of The Professor and the Madman (and many other bestselling books)

"Mary Pilon has discovered an enthralling story behind Monopoly, as much a history of our country as of its favorite game. She writes with the assurance and energy of a historian who knows she has struck gold." —Gay Talese

"America’s toy chest is stuffed with games whose origins belie their shiny packaging and family-fun marketing—none more than Monopoly. Mary Pilon’s page-turning narrative unravels the innocent beginnings, the corporate shenanigans, and the big lie at the center of this iconic boxed board game." —Stefan Fatsis, author of Word Freak: Heartbreak, Triumph, Genius, and Obsession in the World of Competitive Scrabble Players

"Thanks to Mary Pilon's meticulous reporting and mellifluous prose, we now know the real story of the corporate greed and relentless cover-up that scars Monopoly, one of the most beloved and successful board games of all time. Finally, the truth is out." —William D. Cohan, author of The Last Tycoons

"Dry concepts such as brand identity and copyright are deftly woven to create a compelling and seamless story that many readers will find more entertaining than the game itself."  —Publisher' Weekly (starred review)

(Then, there's the 2009 Wall Street Journal article about Ralph Anspach and his epic battle, this 2013 NY Times Sunday Review piece about the evolution of the game or about how you're playing it incorrectly.)  

And if you've made it this far, here's a secret