Lewin, C. G. War Games and their History. Band 2

The book describes a rich selection of war games that have been developed and played over the centuries, including some extremely rare and possibly unique games that were published during the Napoleonic era and gathered dust in a university library. Since the early 19th century, war games have generally been produced whenever diplomatic tensions increased or war broke out. Once peace was restored, the games were usually discarded, making it difficult to find surviving copies today. Some of these forgotten games had excellent graphics on the box lid, evoking images of battles. Others were exciting to play and presented an intellectual challenge with strategic and tactical problems. But war games have always been much more than just entertainment. Top-secret games were organised by governments to plan real wars and this is still the case today. This book discusses what is known about them and what insights they have provided into the real-world consequences of pursuing different strategies, including the use of nuclear weapons. At a time of increasingly dynamic and popular computer games, War Games and their History Volume 2 explores the fascinating and largely forgotten heritage on which modern war games in their myriad forms are built.