Polo: The Emperor of Games

The grandson of Devereux Milburn, one of America's greatest players, Milburn (Sheltered Lives) provides everything the uninitiated need to know about polo, together with a history of the game from its origins in Tibet to its spread-first to India, then to England, then to America and finally to Argentina, which has dominated the international circuit since 1932. Disabusing readers of the notion that polo is an effete game, Milburn points out that a two-ambulance contest is standard and a four-ambulance battle not unheard-of. He suggests that polo is not a rich man's sport, but the mention of such names as Winston Churchill and Prince Charles weakens his argument considerably. He concludes that the golden age of polo was just prior to WWI and that the U.S. had its last great years in the late 1930s (Tommy Hitchcock, probably the greatest player ever, died in WWII). There are many photos of exciting plays and unexciting trophy presentations. (Oct.)