Little Wars is a set of rules for playing with toy soldiers, written by H. G. Wells in 1913. Its full title is Little Wars: 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. Little Wars included fairly simple rules for infantry, cavalry, and artillery in the form of a toy 4.7 inch naval gun that launched projectiles, usually small wooden dowels to knock down enemy soldiers. In addition to it being a war game, the book hints at several philosophical aspects of war. The book is written in a whimsical... style and illustrated with amusing drawings and photographs of a game being played that Wells describes in the book. Wells also gives a description of the game from the view of one of the Generals in the battle bombastically relating his memoirs. The development of the game is explained and Wells' thoughts on war, as he was known to be a pacifist, are revealed in his writing. According to Wells, the idea of the game developed from a visit by his friend Jerome K. Jerome. After dinner, Jerome began shooting down toy soldiers with a toy cannon that Wells joined in to compete.
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