Donald F. Featherstone is a British author of more than forty books on wargaming

Wargaming

A wargame is a strategy game that deals with military operations of various types, real or fictional. Wargaming is the hobby dedicated to the play of such games, which can also be called conflict simulations, or consims for short. When used professionally to study warfare, it is generally known as...

 and military history. He wrote classic texts on wargaming in the 1960s and 1970s.

During the Second World War, Featherstone attempted to join the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy; both rejected him. Therefore he settled on the Army and joined the Royal Armoured Corps. An account of his war experiences can be found in his book Lost Tales

Originally a physiotherapist, Featherstone was first introduced to wargaming by reading HG Well's Little Wars and his first opponent was Tony Bath

Tony Bath

Tony Bath was a British wargamer who favored the ancient period. His Hyboria campaign, based on the Conan the Barbarian stories of Robert E. Howard, is sometimes cited as the first fantasy wargame. It is even said to have included role playing elements. The Hyboria campaign did not contain...

 in 1955. In 1960 the two of them began editing the UK version of the War Game Digest, a seminal wargaming newsletter started by Jack Scruby

Jack Scruby

John Edwin "Jack" Scruby was a manufacturer of military miniatures whose efforts led to a rebirth of the miniature wargaming hobby in the late 1950s.-Scruby and Wargaming:...

. Disapproving of a trend towards articles that were "attempting to spread an aura of pseudo-science over what is a pastime," Featherstone started his own periodical in 1962, the Wargamers' Newsletter. While in discussion late one night with Dr. Paddy Griffith

Paddy Griffith

Paddy Griffith was an influential British military theorist, he was the author of numerous books in the field of War Studies, a wargame designer for the UK Ministry of Defence, and a leading figure in the wargaming community....

(the well known military historian), Don had a Eureka moment when he came to realise that the hobby of wargaming could considerably aid understanding of military history .
Featherstone appeared on the BBC to promote the hobby. In 1966 he organized the first UK wargames convention. However, Featherstone's greatest contribution was 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. He published a further book in 2009 Lost Tales about his wartime experiences, the first UK wargaming convention and the wargaming rules he liked most.

Literature

• War Games (1962) A revised edition has been printed as part of the History of Wargaming Project. See www.wargaming.co
• Tackle Model Soldiers This Way (1963)
• Naval War Games, Stanley Paul, London, 1965, ISBN 0-09-076581-8, Updated edition 2009
• Air War Games (1966)
• Bowmen of England (1967 first ed.)
• Advanced War Games, Stanley Paul, London, 1965, ISBN 09-087350-5, reprinted 2008
• War Game Campaigns (1970) reprinted 2009
• Battles with Model Soldiers (1970)
• Military Modelling (1970)
• MacDonald of the 42nd (1971)
• Solo Wargaming (1972) Reprinted 2009
• 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), new edition 2009
• 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, reprinted 2009
• Wargaming Pike and Shot (1977)
• Better Military Modelling (1977)
• Tank battles in miniature: A wargamers' guide to Mediterranean Campaigns 1943-1945 (Patrick Stephens Limited, 1977, ISBN 0-85059-275-5)
• 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)
• Donald Featherstone's Lost Tales (2009) ISBN 978-1-4092-9431-3 available from the History of Wargaming Project www.wargaming.co