In this fascinating look at games through the ages, Tim Clare explores how, through play, we become fully ourselves.

From Roman anti-cheating devices to organised crime card syndicates, from Pokémon’s world domination to the combative domestic bonding ritual of Monopoly, The Game Changers explains why games are more popular now than ever, and how playing them helps us learn to be better losers, make smarter decisions and become more human.

‘Clare is a fabulous tour guide through the history of table games’ Tom Brewster, presenter of Shut Up & Sit Down

Why is playing games a universal human instinct?
Why did the same games evolve across wildly different civilisations?
And how can those games make your life happier, healthier and more fulfilled?

The history of board games is really the history of human civilisation. Through it we see how our species has learned to live with one another, make deals, take on different roles and manage the ups and downs of luck.

In this entertaining and thought-provoking look at games through the ages, Tim Clare explores the legal highs of a good dice roll, the thrills of a predatory race game and the tactile pleasures of the games that age with us through our lives to discover how, through play, we become fully ourselves.

Drawing on Roman anti-cheating devices, organised crime card syndicates and the combative domestic bonding ritual of Monopoly, The Game Changers explains why games are more popular now than ever, and how playing them helps us learn to be better losers, make smarter decisions and become more human.

His year of treatments took him from anti-depressants to hypnosis, running to extreme diets, ice baths to faecal transplants. At the end of it he discovers what helps him (and what doesn’t), and what might help others. Most of all, he comes to rethink anxiety and encourages all of us to do the same.

In Coward, Tim Clare explores all the possible treatments for anxiety, from SSRIs to hypnosis, running to extreme diets. He interviews experts and becomes a guinea pig, testing their methods on himself. At the end of a year of many ups and downs, Tim discovers what helps him (and what doesn’t), and what might help others. Most of all, he comes to rethink anxiety and encourages all of us to do the same.