Philip Orbanes, master of all things Monopoliana, traces the remarkable story of the world"s most famous board game, from its origins as a collegiate teaching tool in the early twentieth century through Monopoly"s explosive growth in the postwar decades, to the game"s current status as a fixture in homes across the globe. Along the way, Orbanes includes memorable Monopoly personality portraits, surprising Monopoly legends and lore, and an extraordinary tour of the ingenious advertising that contributed to the game"s rise in popularity. This is the first and only book to cover comprehensively the origin, growth, and global reach of the game that has become a universal and everyday cultural icon.