Joseph Henry Blackburne

“Harding tells Blackburne’s chess life with a great love for detail...a breathtaking and carefully researched masterpiece”—ChessBase; “[Harding] has recovered unknown games, corrected errors in published games, and created thorough travelogues for his tours and travels...definitive...an indispensable resource”—Chess Life; “the first comprehensive biography of Britain’s greatest chess player of the 19th and early 20th centuries.”—ChessCafe; “stupendous door-stopper of a book”—New in Chess; “this is an excellent book, packed with game scores (often annotated) ad engravings. The paper is of very high quality and the chess community should be grateful to both publisher and author for providing such a text.... Blackburne was a great chess player and this book is a fitting memorial to him”—Kingpin Chess Magazine; “deeply researched”—Chess Book Chats; “definitive...an indispensable resource”—Chessbooks.nl; “massive...even more impressive than its size and weight is the amount of effort that went into producing this book...like all McFarland books the production qualities are first rate...highly recommended”—IM John Donaldson (JeremySilman.com); “impressively authoritative and readable”—Chess; “an exceptionally detailed record of Blackburne’s life.”—David G. Mills; “well researched.... As with all McFarland books, the quality of the publication is excellent...an excellent in-depth study”—Mind’s Eye Press; “monumental...a huge contribution to chess literature...splendid...no good chess library can afford to be without this book”—The Spectator; “both a biography and a game collection, Harding sets the record straight and fleshes out the life and career of Joseph Henry Blackburne”—ProtoView; “amazing...comprehensive...beautiful...Harding at his best!”—Huffington Post.