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"When asked by the ruler of Egypt whether his geometry could not be made more simple, [Euclid] replied that there was no Royal Road"

(Europe, Norman Davies)

Quick browse in Wikipedia reveals that the Royal Road "was an ancient highway reorganized and rebuilt by the Persian king Darius I of the Achaemenid Empire in the 5th century BC. Darius built the road to facilitate rapid communication throughout his very large empire"

Hence I guess by extension a Royal Road is the shortest / surest / easiest way to get somewhere / reach one's goal?

Hence Royal Road to Card Magic?

I never knew that's where the expression came from, nor even suspected that the book's title was derived from it. You learn something new everyday don't you?

Most fascinating!

As opposed to Rocky Road which is just delicious...

Le Petit Bateleur wrote: Darius built the road to facilitate rapid communication throughout his very large empire" Hence I guess by extension a Royal Road is the shortest / surest / easiest way to get somewhere / reach one's goal?

The book actually mentions something along similar lines. Quote from the end of the introduction ''The Royal Road to Card Magic - certainly a shorter and smoother road than was plodded by magicians of the past, and one quite as likely to take the traveler to his destination.''

jim

I thought (perhaps incorrectly) that the "Royal Road" was a series of books brought out by the original publisher. A bit like the Carry On films! So there might have been a Royal Road to Poker or bridge, or Royal Road to Juggling etc. I think (and it is only think) that "Royal Road" was essentially a series of "how to" books.

Same goes to "Full Facts of Cold Reading" - "Full Facts" being a series of publications of which cold reading was only one.

I could well be wrong...

Paul,

The irony of your sig is great! Ian's book is called Full Facts because essentially, that's what it is. There is no series.

Also, as has been noticed, Royal Road is explained in the introduction.

Take care, Ian

IanKendall wrote:Paul,

The irony of your sig is great! Ian's book is called Full Facts because essentially, that's what it is. There is no series.

Also, as has been noticed, Royal Road is explained in the introduction.

Take care, Ian

Thanks Ian. I'm usually wrong about these things. I was probably misinterpreting books such as the Royal Road to Health, Royal Road to Romance, Royal Road to Joy, Royal Road to Wealth et al as being a series of publications from the early to mid part of the 20th century. My bad.

The cover of Ian's book also had me fooled by the logo in the top left that reads "JT Full Facts Books" which intimates some kind of series. Again, my bad.

"The royal road to..." or "there is no royal road to..." was a common phrase in the 19th and earlier 20th centuries, when even moderately educated people were expected to recognise literary and historical allusions.

It's a comment on our modern educational system that most people nowadays don't even recognise direct quotations from major sources like Shakespeare and the Bible.