Customer Reviews

A History of Playing Cards and a Bibliography of Cards and Gaming

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First, an important note: There seems to be 2 versions of this book floating around. One with 16 color plates and one that is all B&W. I learned this when I received mine and found that it was all B&W. Be sure you know which you are getting.
Also, many of the b&w images appear to be poor photocopies, either far too light or too dark.

This book is no doubt the authority. It is very well researched. But the way it is organized is rather dull. Each chapter basically lists and briefly discusses all the cards that were found from that particular country. It might have been more interesting if there was more discussion of how the different suites evolved or how the countries influenced each other.

This book is a well-researched, thorough and informative guide to the history of playing cards. I was especially interested in the medieval information, but found the entire work clear and easy to follow, while keeping up high standards of academic quality. I would recommend this work to anyone seriously interested in the history of the field. The Plates were also very helpful in illustrating the development and styles of cards through the centuries.

I'd been looking around for a fairly comprehensive work on Playng Card history, and found this a pretty good choice. A bit wordy and heady at times, but covers things well.