Donald Featherstone (wargamer)
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Donald F. Featherstone (b. 20 March 1918) is a British author of books on wargaming and military history. He wrote classic texts on wargaming in the 1960s and 1970s.
Originally a physiotherapist, Featherstone was introduced to miniatures wargaming by Tony Bath in 1955.[1] In 1960 the two of them began editing the UK version of the War Game Digest, a seminal wargaming newsletter started by Jack Scruby. Disapproving of a trend towards articles that were "attempting to spread an aura of pseudo-science over what is a pastime,"[2] Featherstone started his own periodical in 1962, the Wargamers' Newsletter.
In 1961 Featherstone organized the first UK wargames convention and appeared on the BBC to promote the hobby.[3] However, Featherstone's greatest contribution were his books: hardcover collections of rules for the recreational wargamer, culminating in his encyclopedic War Games through the Ages series. Featherstone continued to write in the 1990s, switching to works on military history.
[edit] Literature
- War Games (1962)
- Tackle Model Soldiers This Way (1963)
- Naval War Games (1965)
- Air War Games (1966)
- Bowmen of England (1967 first ed.)
- Advanced War Games (1969)
- War Game Campaigns (1970)
- Battles with Model Soldiers (1970)
- Military Modelling (1970)
- MacDonald of the 42nd (1971)
- Solo Wargaming (1972)
- Poitiers 1356: Knight's Battles for Wargamers (1972)
- War Games through the Ages: Vol. 1 3000BC-1500AD (Stanley Paul, 1972. ISBN 0-09-110240-5)
- Tank battles in miniature: A wargamers' guide to the Western Desert Campaign in 1940-1942 (1973)
- Battle Notes for Wargamers (David & Charles, 1973. ISBN 0-7153-6310-7)
- War Games through the Ages: Vol. 2 1420-1783 (Stanley Paul, 1974. ISBN 0-09-118760-5)
- War Games through the Ages: Vol. 3 1792-1879 (Stanley Paul, 1975. ISBN 0-09-121250-2)
- Skirmish Wargaming (Patrick Stephens Limited, 1975. ISBN 0-85059-197-X)
- Wargaming: Ancient and Medieval Periods. David & Charles, UK, 1975. ISBN 0-7153-6939-3. Hippocrene Books, USA, 1975. ISBN 0-88254-353-9.
- War Games through the Ages: Vol. 4 1861-1945 (1976)
- Wargaming Airborne Operations. Kaye & Ward, 1975, ISBN 0-7182-1172-3
- Wargaming Pike and Shot (1977)
- Better Military Modelling (1977)
- Tank battles in miniature: A wargamers' guide to the Arab-Israeli Wars since 1948 (Patrick Stephens Limited, 1978, ISBN 0-85059-304-2)
- Featherstone's Complete Wargaming (David & Charles, 1989. ISBN 0-7153-9262-X)
- Victoria's Enemies: An A-Z of British Colonial Warfare (1989)
- The Peninsular War (1991)
- Victorian Colonial Warfare: Africa, from the Campaigns Against the Kaffirs to the South African War (1992)
- Khartoum 1885: General Gordon's last stand (1993)
- Tel El-Kebir 1882 : Wolseley's Conquest of Egypt (1993)
- The History of the English Longbow (1993)
- Omdurman 1898 : Kitchener's victory in the Sudan (1994)
- Weapons and Equipment of the Victorian Soldier (1996)
- Warriors and Warfare in Ancient and Medieval Times (1997)
- Khaki & Red: Soldiers of the Queen in India and Africa (1997)
- Bridges of Battle: Famous Battlefield Actions at Bridges and River Crossings (1999)
- Bowmen of England (2003)
- The Battlefield Walker's Handbook (2005)
