Grand Thieves & Tomb Raiders: How British Videogames Conquered the World

by Rebecca Levene, Magnus Anderson

it’s the greatest British invasion of them all. Lara Croft is an international icon and the British-born Grand Theft Auto and i ts spin-offs have sold more than 100 million copies worldwide. The UK’s games industry is now bigger than either its cinema or its music. Yet the medium’s birth in Thatcher’s Britain was almost accidental. While politicians championed computers like the BBC Micro and the ZX Spectrum as engines of learning, it was left to a grassroots culture of amateur programmers to unlock their true potential. And from bedrooms and classrooms across the country, a brilliant profusion of innovative and idiosyncratic games soon emerged – propelling their young creators to fame, riches and, eventually, a place on the world stage. This is the story of those teenage coders – tracing their journey from the first home computers to the age of the smartphone. A mix of oddball characters, programming miracles and moral panics, Grand Thieves & Tomb Raiders reveals how the unique history of British computing led to some of the greatest games of all time.            

Genres: Nonfiction, Video Games, Gaming, History

339 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

British author, editor and tv storyliner.
Educated at Clare College, Cambridge.
She has written books for Virgin's Doctor Who line, Abbadon books and Black Flame.
She also writes for Doctor Who Magazine and SFX.

Reviews

[Stuart Hill · Rating 3 out of 5]

The title seems to be one dreamt up by a marketing department as the book is actually a history of the video games industry in the UK which goes right back to the 8 bit era. The chapters on GTA and Tomb Raider were good actually but they make up a relatively small part of a fairly lengthy book.

It tells an interesting story packed with fascinating anecdotes such as the bizzare incident where Acorn apparently came to grief at the hands of organised crime. The authors conducted many interviews with key industry figures such as Peter Molyneux which results in a text which feels fresh and vibrant even if the events of the period are familiar to the reader.

The book did come across as a little inaccurate or incomplete at some points, however. For example the early 8 bit years are portrayed as a competition between the ZX Spectrum and the BBC Micro, yet the latter's high price tag meant that its' user base was always small in comparison with the popular Commodore 64 which is barely mentioned here. This seems a curious omission as although American, the machine was heavily supported by British software creators who introduced some significant innovations such as fast loaders, synthesised speech, complex soundtracks utilising the machine's SID chip and even games you could play whilst another game loaded from tape. Similarly it was strange that previous home video games were dismissed as simple Bat N Ball variants when Atari's VCS and the Intellivision system offered substantial libraries of games which though crude were often creative and ambitious considering the hardware's limitations.

Despite these flaws this book was an engrossing, enjoyable read which should certainly be of interest to fans of gaming history. Not a definitive text but worth a look, although best read in conjunction with other books to get a fuller picture of events.

[Billy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic book. The final chapter felt quite rushed, I assume the authors were up against a deadline and hurried to get the last few points across because they jumped all over the place, but that aside this is a great in depth look at the British videogame scene over the past 30 years. The chapters on GTA and Tomb Raider didn't offer much that hasn't been covered in detail elsewhere, but there was some great discussion of the early days of DMA Designs, Codemasters and Bullfrog to name just a few, and lots I didn't already know about the development of some of the great British 8-bit machines (though personally I'd have liked more info on the Amstrad systems)

[Luke · Rating 2 out of 5]

To be perfect honest. . .I didn't actually read it all. What I did read was the part about Tomb Raider. (I LOVE TOMB RAIDER.) In this book, I read info that I already knew — like how Lara Croft was originally going to be an Indiana Jones clone, and how, when they changed her to being a woman, her original name was Laura Cruz — and there were some info that I didn't know about. The rest of the book. . .well, I didn't care for the rest.

[Jonathan Oliver · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent history of the video game industry in the UK, clearly written and entertaining. Made me yearn for the days of owning a ZX Spectrum 128K again, and typing in programming code from books borrowed from the library. Fascinating, informative and entertaining.

[Richie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first and last chapters feel rather too contrived and tacked on, but between them is a wonderfully engaging and fluid human history of a time when British games - and games machines - ruled the digital world.

[Guillaume · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bien écrit, très bien vulgarisé, une bonne lecture.