Look.  Just - look.  (Click on any image for a larger view...)

Do I need to say anything more?  Above you have more than the proverbial thousand words (a thousand words times four, in fact), but for those who insist...

A introduction by former World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov.  200 full-color illustrations.  272 pages of intelligent (though not 100% accurate, apparently¹) and relevant text and eye-candy images enough to sate the senses even of Caissa herself.

The Table of Contents is revealing of the depth and span of this absolutely gorgeous book:

Introduction by Garry Kasparov

Prologue: The Two Fabergé Chess Sets

1. The Origins of Chess

2. Islam's Influence

3. Medieval Europe

4. Materials

5. War As A Theme

6. France

7. Germany

8. The British Isles

9. Mediterranean Countries

10. Central Europe

11. Russia

12. The Far East

13. The Western Hemisphere

14. The Twentieth Century

15. The Twenty-First Century

Index

Acknowledgments

Do not be misled - this is no coffee-table book, fit only for entertaining your relatives or that nosey neighbor when they come calling.  This book is for art lovers, collectors, and anyone who loves the game of chess.

¹) An acquaintance of mine, who is himself something of an expert on the subject, took me to task, writing:

"This is going to be a bad review of your review.  The book is really entertaining but it's full of factual inaccuracies.  Chess didn't originate as a four handed game, etc...  The third picture down on your review is a 20th century ivory set made by Bertram Jones and sold as a 17th or 18th century Turkish set.  His design was based on ivory rose water sprinklers that were mistaken by some as very old chess pieces.  Turkish chess pieces that looked like this never existed.  There are so many fairy stories like this told about antique chess sets in published material (the Keats is awful) ... the Gareth Williams is good, and so is Darlow's "Turned Chess Sets."  I don't want to be all negative.  It is a gorgeous book.  I'm just of seeing the same crap reprinted as truth with a glowing (if brief) review.  We should hold our non-fiction materials up to a higher standard than that."

From the Publisher's website:

About the book
These remarkable chess sets span civilizations, chronicling the game and its design beginning with the earliest known pieces and coming up to the surprising present.  Considering chess through the perspectives of art and history, the engaging text touches upon the influences of local cultures and available materials, as well as the battles, rulers, and political factions that often inspired thematic sets.  In addition to classic sets produced by Wedgwood, Meissen, and Murano, Chess Masterpieces includes the first ever comparison of two sets created by Fabergé (only one of which was previously known to exist), and extensive examples of 20th- and 21st-century sets crafted by artists such as Man Ray, Marcel Duchamp, Salvador Dalí, and Damien Hirst.

About the author
George Dean is a practicing physician with a passion for collecting art.  He has amassed one of the greatest chess collections in the world, which forms the basis for this book: 600 chess sets, 200 antique pieces, 200 sculptures, painting, porcelains, and chess boards.  He divides his time between Michigan and Florida.

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