{"product_id":"the-oxford-guide-to-card-games-9780192141651","title":"The Oxford Guide to Card Games","description":"\u003cp\u003eImported 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.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45924402135093,"sku":"ByrdShop_0192141651","price":238.45,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780192141651.jpg?v=1787669150","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-oxford-guide-to-card-games-9780192141651","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}