Playing War: The Development and Early Use of Kriegsspiel

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Games are amazing. They teach us how to engage with the world through play. They’ve also been used to train some of the greatest military minds. Chess is notoriously the game of the aristocracy, used to teach strategy and forward thinking. In the 19th century, a Prussian father and son, George Leopold von Reisswitz and Georg Heinrich Rudolf Johann von Reisswitz, brought strategic gaming to a whole new level with profound results.

​Host: Samantha

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Further Reading
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Matthew Caffrey, On Wargaming: How Wargames Have Shaped History and How they May Shape the Future, Naval War College Press, (2019).

Kelly Clancy, Playing With Reality: How Games Have Shaped Our World, Riverhead Books, (2024).

Jon Peterson, Playing at the World: A History of Simulating Wars, People and Fantastic Adventures, from Chess to Role-Playing Games, Unreason Press, (2012).

​Music: "Evening Melodrama" by Kevin Macleod (www.incompetech.com)