Little Wars

H.G. Wells, the science-fiction writer, published Little Wars in 1913 — a book of rules for a game played on the floor, shooting at toy soldiers with toy guns. A military exercise turned into a civilian pastime in a single volume. What keeps this from being just a rulebook, though, is what he wrote in the final chapter. He wrote: "You have only to play at Little Wars three or four times to realise just what a blundering thing Great War must be." He goes on to say that real war is now not only the most expensive game there is, but a wildly unbalanced one besides. He even adds an ironic passage, a Temple of War, where he proposes shutting away the posturing princes, the fear-mongers, and the excited "patriots" together in one place. He wrote the rules for a game, and laughed at the real thing while doing it.