B. H. Liddell Hart

Life & Legacy

Sir Basil Henry Liddell Hart (31 October 1895 – 29 January 1970), commonly known as Captain B. H. Liddell Hart, was a British soldier, military historian and military theorist. He wrote a series of military histories that proved influential among strategists. Arguing that frontal assault was bound to fail at great cost in lives, as proven in the First World War, he recommended the "indirect approach" and reliance on fast-moving armoured formations.
His pre-war publications are known to have influenced German strategy in the Second World War, though he was accused of prompting captured generals to exaggerate his part in the development of blitzkrieg tactics. He also helped promote the Rommel myth and the "clean Wehrmacht" argument for political purposes, when the Cold War necessitated the recruitment of a new West German army.