"Polo: The Emperor of Games" 1994 MILBURN, Frank
$75
MILBURN, Frank
[184] pp.
Alfred A. Knopf
1994
First Edition
9 1/4" x 7 1/4"
This rich & informal social history of polo traces the exciting international sport that Winston Churchill called "the emperor of games" through 2,000 years -- from its origin at the edge of civilization in ancient Tibet to the royal courts of Persia, to India, where it eventually was taken up by the British, down to the present day. Centers on the game's development in the U.S. In the halcyon 1920's, crowds of 40,000 would watch the great Tommy Hitchcock in action on a Long Island greensward as big as 15 football fields. Describes the 50 year dominance of Argentina, where the game has become so violent that there is constant risk of death. Illustrated.