Charles Elliott
Getting out of Jail
The Monopolists: Obsession, Fury, and the Scandal behind the World’s Favourite Board Game
By Mary Pilon
Bloomsbury 313pp £20 order from our bookshop
Monopoly doesn’t necessarily bring out the best in people. It can be excessively competitive. To avoid bloodshed, or at least a pitched battle using little wooden houses, families have been known to outlaw it. Yet it remains one of the most widely loved board games ever produced. What may come as a surprise – or possibly not, depending on one’s level of cynicism – is to learn that its history is as full of underhand dealings, fraud, legal battles and, yes, monopolistic shenanigans as anything in the game itself.
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