The Age of Chance: Gambling in Western Culture

by Gerda Reith

Overview

This fascinating and extensive study, enlivened by interviews with British and American gamblers, will be enthralling reading not just for those interested in the cultural and social implications of gambling - researchers in sociology, cultural studies and the history of ideas - but for anyone interested in how we create meaning in an increasingly insecure world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781134680290
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	08/05/2005
Series:	Routledge Studies in Social and Political Thought
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	232
File size:	964 KB

About the Author

Reith, Gerda

Table of Contents

IntroductionChapter One: The Idea of ChanceThe age of faith: The origins of chance Chance and determinism The age of reason: The birth of probability The age of chance: Chance and modernity Chapter Two: The Pursuit of ChanceGambling and Divination The Seventeenth Century Explosion The Nineteenth Century: Playing with numbers Postscript: the vortex of vice Chapter Three: Playgrounds - A Map of the Modern Gambling SitesModern Gambling The Map: A Typology of GamblingThe sites: PlaygroundsChapter Four: The Experience of PlayThe Experience of PlayThe Categories of Play The Varieties of Gambling Experience Chapter Five: The Magical-Religious WorldviewThe Rejection of Probability The Magical Worldview: Participation The Religious Worldview: Transcendence Epilogue

Editorial Reviews

Reith (sociology, U. of Glasgow, UK) has written a fascinating history and analysis of gambling from Roman times to the present. The psyche of the gambler, the shifts in gambling's meaning according to class and circumstance, the development of legal gambling for all classes, and the innumerable types of gambling today are the topics covered. Reith, who makes frequent reference to a large selection of scholarly studies (the book is fully annotated), nonetheless maintains a seamless and engaging narrative. Distributed by Taylor & Francis. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews

'The Age of Chance is a wonderful book, scholarly and at the same time compulsive reading' - Heather Worth, University of Auckland

From the Publisher