Audiobook · read by volunteers
Little Wars
H. G. Wells (1866–1946)
Read by Mark F. Smith · 5 chapters · 1 h 44
About the book
In 1913, H. G. Wells published a book for people who love toy soldiers, and who suspect that war games can be played with more skill and more fun than anyone has bothered to suggest. Little Wars sets out the rules for a game with miniature armies on the floor or the lawn, with spring-loaded cannon that fire small wooden shells, and with ideas about how to deal with forts, bridges, hedges and the movements of cavalry. Wells writes with humour and charm, drawing on playful afternoons with friends and with his sons. The book also reflects, with a touch of sadness, on the real thing. Its subtitle announces a game for boys from twelve to a hundred and fifty, and for the more intelligent sort of girl who likes boys' games.
Introduction
H. G. Wells (1866-1946) was an English writer best known for his science fiction, including The Time Machine, The Invisible Man and The War of the Worlds. He also wrote social novels, histories and a great deal of journalism, and he was a prominent public voice on questions of politics and the future.
Little Wars appeared in 1913, a year before the outbreak of the First World War. Its full title describes it as a game for boys from twelve years of age to one hundred and fifty, and for that more intelligent sort of girl who likes boys' games and books, with an appendix on Kriegspiel. The book is generally regarded as the beginning of miniature wargaming as a hobby. It sets out clear rules for movement, firing and combat, and it describes how to arrange a battlefield and how to settle disputes.
What makes the book more than a rulebook is the voice of the author. Wells is witty, a little mischievous and willing to poke fun at military pomp, and in the closing pages he considers, soberly, how much better it would be if the real thing could be avoided. The tension between fun and seriousness, written so shortly before the war began, gives the book a particular poignancy.
The recording has five chapters and lasts about one hour and forty minutes. It is read by a LibriVox volunteer. Short as it is, the book is easy to follow by ear, and it will please anyone who has ever lined up toy soldiers or wondered how play might be given rules.
Public domain
H. G. Wells died in 1946: the work is in the public domain in Switzerland, more than 70 years after the author’s death.
The LibriVox volunteers dedicated this recording to the public domain.
Sources : LibriVox page · Files at the Internet Archive · Original text