The Oxford History of Board Games

This is a very odd duck on this sight as it is not a game or even primarily a collection of rules for games (although it does serve that purpose). It is, as the title implies, a history of board games and has a lot of interesting material about the development of common types of games (and variants thereof) in various cultures. I only read the parts about games that were of interest to me and found some of the material a bit dry.

Fascinating. I can't get enough of this stuff.

new edition in 2012 or 2013?

Describes many obscure variations on classic games and less than classic games.

Also a good history book. Deals a lot more with mechanics than theme, however.