The Oxford Guide to Card Games

by David Parlett

Imported from the Mamluks of Egypt, card games first hit Europe around 1371 and within ten years had spread like wildfire from Spain and Italy to France and Germany. By 1420, German and Swiss cardmakers were producing packs by the thousands (first by stencil, later by metal engraving) marked
with a bewildering array of suits, including hounds, bears, parrots, roses, helmets, banners, and bells. Games proliferated as well, and by 1534, Rabelais could name 35 different card games in Chapter 22 of Gargantua . Today, of course, there are thousands of games, from the universally popular Poker
and Contract Bridge, to national manias such as Swiss Jass, German Skat, and French Belote.
Now, in The Oxford Guide to Card Games , internationally renowned game expert David Parlett provides a fascinating historical guide to cards in Europe and America. Unlike other books, this is not primarily a book of rules or hints on how to play better, but a unique survey of where the games
originated, how they have developed over time, and what their rituals and etiquette tell us about the people who play them. Parlett discusses such ancient games as Karnoffel (German for "hernia"), in which the King could be captured by cards named Pope, Kaiser, Devil, and Karnoffel (this subversive
ranking was decried by civic authorities and Karnoffel was even banned in Augsburg in 1446, but it was very popular among soldiers and workers). We learn that the term "Bower" in Euchre comes from the German word Bauer ( Boer in Dutch), which means "farmer" or "Jack," and that Poker comes from the
German word Pocher , which means "bash" or "pulverize" or "brag" (Poker is, as Parlett points out, ultimately a bragging game, in which players boast--or bet--that their hand is best). And we follow the rise and fall of such games as Piquet, which was once far and away the best loved game in Europe,
and Canasta, which became a world-wide phenomenon in the 1950s, for a while rivaling Contract Bridge in popularity.
The first book to explore the history of cards in the West, this attractively illustrated volume is both informative and entertaining. Whether your favorite game is Poker or Pinocle, Cribbage or Gin, Contract Bridge or Crazy Eights, you will find much here to fascinate and amuse.

Genres: Games, History

374 pages, Hardcover

First published November 8, 1990

About the author

Parlett is a noted games scholar who has written extensively on the history of board and card games, as well as inventing several of his own.

Reviews

[Justus · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolutely great overview of cardgames. Even though it is focused primarily on Western games, it does touch on games in asia when they cross paths withEuropean games. Its ordered by the types of games (trick taking, rummy, etc.) and even though it is not a rules book it does include the necessary rules to make the reading understandable even if you do not know the games. But in the end the book is all about how the games came to be and the contexts in which they arose. Extremely interesting and entertaining reading for people into cardgames.

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

A 3 star for anyone not looking into particular game. Still, this a rich survey of past and present card games. The author is both thorough and easygoing (albeit in a very British way). You'll be able to find your game, its variants, and possibly become intrigued by a related game. I can already tell the classification of different types will help in forming of my own game variants. I now know the fundamentals of a type from which I can spin new rules and challenges.

There are two faults I have with this book that are not related to the author's time and place of writing (he's British and writing in the 1990s; it took me forever to realize "patience" is really what us Americans would call solitaire.)
1. He's a bit sexist. Certain card games are, "more appropriate or attractive for women." If someone could point out how he's just reiterating his sources rather than interjecting his own opinion, I may retract the criticism.
2. His painstaking detail of every card game's rules and play gets to be a slog. This is partially balanced by the ease of skipping certain sections.

Overall, a worthy guide to cards for those interested in them.