I have been asked to review this book for a major journal. It will take some months for my review to appear (especially since I just got the book today and have read just a few pages) but it is worth saying right now that dipping into the book has convinced me that it's going to be a very interesting read. The author, Martin van Creveld, is a very well known and prolific writer on military history and strategy, and this book is based on his extensive reading and the thoughts he has had on wargames as a result of that reading.
I am reluctant to say this is a good or a bad book based on a half an hour's reading, but if you're seriously interested in the varieties of wargaming through the ages you probably want to have a look at this book.
Image: yes, a realistic view of female wargamers comes with the price of admission.
(BlogSpot seems to have eaten my first try). If you have time, you might want to at least glance at Phil Sabin's [I]Lost Battles[/I], book-length designer's notes for a wargame designed by a professional historian. I enjoyed it but had some methodological concerns, especially his treatment of the armies which the Greco-Latin historians disapprove of; there is a review on my blog.
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