First published in 1971, this book is a comprehensive examination of the development of professional wargaming up to that point. It contains a summary of early wargames, as well as those used by the Germans, Japanese and Allies during World War II. It examines the operational research and analytical games of the post war period including the Cold War strategic and national policy games of the United States. It summarises key games as THEATRERSPIEL, TACSPIEL and the family of TBM-68 manual games.

The book also covers the academic evidence base for of the practical design and implementation of these games. It also links business games and management simulations to the national policy games in the USA dealing with strategy and politics until 1970.

The author, Alfred H. Hausrath, took the opportunity to document many Cold War Games using personal testimony and official records that are no longer available to subsequent historians. The decision was taken to include his work within the History of Wargaming Project series in order to ensure that his legacy is preserved to inform later generations of professional wargamers.