Description

From French spies to Flemish painters, Lincoln’s beard to beer can patents, child labour laws to the Great Depression – Puzzled is not your typical history book.

This is a captivating and colourful journey through the history of jigsaw puzzles, over time and around the world. Puzzled tracks the evolution of the jigsaw puzzle from expensive collectibles available only to society’s elite, to a mass-produced commodity enjoyed by millions the world over.

It includes an interview with a modern-day wood puzzle maker keeping a rare craft alive, an exploration of more than a century of jigsaw puzzle patents, a deep dive into newspaper coverage, the US court system answers the question “Is a jigsaw puzzle a toy?”, and many more delightfully curious, meandering tales of this curious hobby.

Part novel and part users manual, you will also find tips from my dad – an expert puzzler to help get your puzzles solved with maximum enjoyment and minimal headaches.

You can read a chapter sample here.

You can see the Puzzled companion page, with heaps of extra stuff we couldn’t include in the book!

(You can also buy the book from Amazon UK, Amazon US, and Amazon Australia. Note: The prices of Amazon will be slightly higher to account for the third-party fees. You’ll always find the cheapest price right here on this site.)