I have had a long-term interest in the history of wargaming, and back in 2012 I bought C G Lewin’s WARGAMES AND THEIR HISTORY … and mighty impressed I was by the book’s coverage of the topic!

The original book contained the following chapters:

• Foreword by Major General Patrick Cordingley DSO, DSc, FRGS
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: Ancient and Medieval Games
• Chapter 2: Games Played between 1600 and 1800
• Chapter 3: Games for Military Training
• Chapter 4: Games for Naval Training
• Chapter 5: Games for the Public: 1800 – 1900
• Chapter 6: Games for the Public: 1900 – 25
• Chapter 7: Games for the Public: 1925 – 50
• Chapter 8: Modern Games for the Public
• Chapter 9: Official War Games in the Nuclear Age
• Appendix 1: List of War Games
• Appendix 2: Bibliography
• Endnotes
• Index

The second volume contains the following chapters:

• Acknowledgements
• List of Illustrations
• Introduction
• What Makes a War Game?
• About this Book
• War Games in History
• Games to Stimulate Recruitment
• Methods of Capture
• Task Forces
• Hexagons
• Games versus Reality
• The War in Ukraine
• The Peace Conference
• Strategy and Tactics
• The Best War Games
• The Battlegame Books
• Official War Games
• Cyber War Games
• Future War Games
• Artificial Intelligence
• Making up your own rules
• Chapter 1: Games published before 1900
• Chapter 2: Games published 1900-1925
• Chapter 3: Games published 1925-1950
• Chapter 4: Games published 1950-1975
• Chapter 5: Games published 1975-2005
• Chapter 6: Strategy and Tactic
• Appendix: List of War Games
• Endnotes
• Bibliography
• Index

The introduction is – in my opinion – worth the price of the book … and the rest of the book is a treasure trove of information about games that I’d love to know even more about.

One interesting point I noticed from the illustrations … the sheer range of different grids/areas and point-to-point systems used for movement. It has certainly given me some ideas for my Belle Époque map!

I was interested to note that several people I know are referenced in the book. These include (in alphabetical order);

• Antoine Bourguilleau
• John Curry (and the History of Wargaming Project)
• Nick Drage
• The late Peter Perla
• Tim Price
• Professor Phil Sabin

WAR GAMES AND THEIR HISTORY was written by C G Lewin and published in 2012 by Fonthill Media (ISBN 978 1 78155 042 7).

WAR GAMES AND THEIR HISTORY: VOLUME 2 was written by C G Lewin and published in 2026 by Fonthill Media (ISBN 978 1 78155 951 2)