David & Charles publishing 1983

This is another reasonable book from the golden era (in terms of popularity) of darts (early to mid 1980s). The book is set out as most of the time were focusing on history, rules, players etc.

The author provides an entertaining overview of the history of the game with the usual tales of the pilgrim fathers playing darts on the Mayflower and intimating that Medieval bowmen would practise their skills by throwing some sor of fashioned weapons at a log end or similar.

"Organisation" focuses on the BDO circa 1983 and is interesting in capturing the viewpoint on the booming darts scene at that point. Olly Croft noted that darts could suffer from over exposure on TV, but I guess no one could have expected the media backlash that was to occur at the end of the decade.

The "Terminology" section is a gem featuring an A to Z of often used and less often used darts expressions. There are many familiar sayings that you'll hear up and down the land in darts leagues plus some that I've not heard of before. "Fish shop" for a score of twenty two being an example. This section is supported by some amusing cartoons.

"Road To The Top" is an interesting if unexceptional piece that talks about what it took dart players of the time to achieve success. A good portion of this chapter focuses on then world champion, Keith Deller.

The main problem of this book is that it continually plays up and even glorifies a lot of the stigma about darts which caused it to fall from favour while bragging about the huge financial rewards available to top players. The author repeatedly talks about drinking huge quantities to steady nerves, the violent conduct under the influence by stars like Jocky Wilson and the thick smoky atmospheres and working clubs of the North. There's even a large colour portrait of Eric Bristow with a cigarette in his mouth! A combination of all this almost banished darts off our tv screens altogether during the late 80's/early 90's. Fortunately Darts has bounced back and although there is still some way to go, things are certainly on the right track.

 So while the book may have interesting chapters, overall it's most memorable for being an interesting curio which highlights how much things have changed in Darts in the last 20 years.