Game Theory - the formal modelling of conflict and cooperation - first emerged as a recognized field with a publication of John von Neumann and Oskar Morgenstern's Theory of Games and Economic Behaviour in 1944. Since then, game-theoretic thinking about choice of strategies and the interdependence of people's actions has influenced all the social sciences. However, little is known about the history of the theory of strategic games prior to this publication.
In this volume, the history of strategic games - from its origins up to 1945 - is traced through the work of:
* 19th...