McManus, a poker player of some renown himself, has written several books about the game. One is a memoir of the time he finished fifth in the World Series of Poker, and in others he recounts celebrated poker stories. This book is a copious recounting of the game itself.
McManus starts at the very beginning--when paper-making came from the East to the West. From there he goes on to describe the making of cards, and what cards looked like and were used for. This all has a very non-American feel to it. But McManus' thesis is that poker is an American game. It is a marriage of the Puritan and the cowboy in one. The combination represents a tempering balance of dualities: steadiness and adventure, calculation and risk, skill and chance, caution and greed, the cool reality of numbers interacting with the warm reality of luck — getting hot or not. That is the recipe that makes poker a great American invention.
Love the game, or not, this is a great read. There are numerous good stories that revolve around the game--both old and new--and there is a very good description of the game itself, what the terminology is, and what is good poker etiquette. It is also a very quick read, and well worth it.
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