The Curious History of Mazes presents the history of many types of mazes and the role they've served through history, plus a collection of mazes for you to solve yourself.
From prehistoric times, mazes and labyrinths worldwide have served as different symbolic, ritualistic, and practical purposes. Taken as a powerful metaphor for life's journey, they can be used as tools for meditation and learning at any level, even when completed for recreation. Maze images can be enjoyed as motifs themselves, but also in their material forms-a meditation, puzzle, dance, walk, ritual, pilgrimage, or simply a day out.
The Curious History of Mazes, the follow-up edition to the successful The Curious History of the Crossword, presents the history of mazes in a fun and engaging format. Learn how mazes have evolved through history, from the earliest recorded labyrinths, classical and medieval mazes, right up to modern day and pop culture. You will be amazed at the variety of materials used to build these disorienting constructions, among them turf, stone, hedges, and topiaries. A gazetteer at the back maps out historical, modern, famous, and interesting mazes around the world.
Divided into chronologically historical chapters, ready-to-solve mazes are interspersed throughout the narrative for readers to test their smarts-giving the best of two worlds: learning and play.