The Immortal Game by David Shenk

Maybe it was late December or early January when I started The Immortal Game.  I've been nibbling at it over the past 3 months and I finally finished it last weekend.

Because I nibbled over 3 months, I don't have a whole lot of specific recall.  Rather, I just remember that it was a good book that took a 10,000 foot view of chess over a millennium and a half.

The book goes back and forth between recounting history and the evolution of chess and the immortal game.

I learned how chess moved east to west and how the game had such an impact on culture and society.  I learned of the different eras of chess and how the game was developed and viewed over hundreds of years.

The book flows very well.  It was not boring; either from a chess player perspective or a non-chess player perspective.

I'm not going to get much into reviewing this - there are lots of reviews available.  But if you're looking for a good, broad historical chess book, this would be a good start.