The Man Who Played to Lose

"The Man Who Played to Lose" by Laurence M. Janifer is a science fiction story from the early 1960s that looks at tough topics like fighting a guerilla war, problems in a government, and what it really means to be a leader in a country that's supposed to be fair, all on a strange planet called Wohlen. It's mostly about how people act and what happens because of the choices they make when things get really tough. The main guy, Ephraim Carboy, is sent to Wohlen after a big fight breaks out. The government is struggling to stay in charge against a group of rebels led by William F. Sergeant. Carboy and General Rawlinson Hollerith, who's with the rebels, have to find their way through a mess of secrets and lies. Carboy comes up with a plan to get the rebels more soldiers and weapons, and they win a big battle, but it costs them a lot. As things get more tense, Hollerith starts to see that their success might actually lead to their downfall because using democracy during wartime might have been a mistake. The story ends with everyone thinking about whether democracy is really the best way to lead when things are falling apart.