David H. Caldwell

Arguably the most thorough book on the multi-set medieval walrus-ivory chess pieces (men) reportedly found on the remote Scotish island of Lewis in the 19th century. The sets seem to have been found already incomplete in mysterious circumstances and are today dispersed between Scottish and English main museums. These sets are very famous and are often reproduced (the set in Harry Potter first film).
The probable norse origin of the pieces and the political setting of the time of their making show more and possible use are discussed together with the games possibly played with the sets: Chess (old rules) and Tafl (a norse "attack the castle" variant with King and guardian pieces).
Most important: this seems to be the only published book which lists and presents every known piece of the find, together with multiple angle high-resolution colour photos. A valuable graphic source!
Highly recommended to game historians, reenactors and artists. show less

Not too gripping as the authors pretty much admitted they had little hard information/evidence and a significant portion was dedicated to advancing their own theory (admittedly, sounded fairly plausible). A few interesting factoids about chess history, but that was about it.