As a puzzle-setter in the escape room business, I couldn't resist getting a copy of Hartston's book after a good friend informed me about its existence. After finishing it, I'm not really convinced that I know much more about the "history of puzzles", however. Perhaps a better title would have been "categorisation of puzzles", as only the first few chapters dig into some brief historical research.

The format of the book is text interspersed with related puzzles. That sounds nice enough, but I quickly realised that I was never in the mood for solving the puzzles when I wanted to read about them. So I stopped trying and just went straight for the solutions presented at the end. :-)

The book ends with a prize puzzle. I can't compete since I don't have an address in the UK, but I don't find myself motivated to even try it. As the book continued, the author put in more and more of his own puzzles (not without bragging about their ingenuity) and I never found these to be particularly engaging.

So, in short, it's a nice little work definitely giving some insight into the classification of puzzles, presenting an overview of the classics and highlighting some master puzzle setters from past and present. Don't expect much more, however. ( )