I just got mine today and am so happy that I ordered it. I went straight to page 42 to read "A Discourse on why game-playing and Tarot in particular, was invented". It is so far just what I was hoping it would be, (at least this particular section) in that it is fleshing out the images of the trumps, as well as the suits in a way that is historically based and so thoroughly described that I am not left with any holes in my understanding of an image.
My interest in this book, and my appetite for tarot history in general is fueled by the (probably foolish) desire to read the cards using historical decks and the historically based descriptions of the "characters" depicted within them. So, I just want to let others (who may not normally have any interest in tarot history) know that this book could be very helpful to those who want to explore reading with older decks while using some of these vivid descriptions to inform their narrative. It's really not just for the hard core history buffs, I can't stress that enough.
Thank you very much, Marco, Ross and Thierry.
PS I do of course realize that the tarot deck was created as a game.