Playing at the World

I've just started reading Playing at the World by Jon Peterson.  It's really a history of the invention of Dungeons and Dragons, and an investigation of the sources of various elements of the original version of the game.  So far, I've been reading about the creation of the wargaming hobby and its fandom in the 1960's.   It's really quite fascinating.   I'm surprised at how important Gary Gygax was before the creation of D&D.  He was a war-gaming machine and was a social-network machine.   He did so much to link people together and get a real connection to come together from disparate people,

It is also fascinating how important the "Opponents Wanted" column in Avalon Hill's "General" magazine was in accidentally bring clubs into existence, and how jerks advertising fake organizations led to the creation of a real organization that led eventually to Gary running the first GenCon.  

It's a very interesting book so far (although a little pricey for a paper-bound book, big though it is.)   I'd be willing to loan it out to anyone who wants to read it whenever I'm finished with it, although that might be a little while, since I kind of want to read it at a slow pace and enjoy it a while.