Sir Basil Henry Liddell Hart

Sir Basil Henry Liddell Hart , 1895-1970, English author and military strategist, b. Paris. His education at Cambridge was interrupted by World War I, in which he served (1914-18) and was twice wounded. Retiring from the army as a captain in 1927, he was military correspondent for the London Daily Telegraph (1925-35) and the London Times (1935-39). He was an early advocate of mechanized warfare, and his thinking had a profound effect upon the German high command prior to World War II. He also evolved a number of infantry tactics and training methods that were adopted by the British army. From 1937 to 1938 he was personal adviser to the British war minister, Leslie Hore-Belisha, and suggested a program of reorganization and reform that was partly instituted. He was knighted in 1966. In later years, he developed a strategic theory known as "an indirect approach." Among his numerous books are Sherman: Soldier, Realist, American (1929), The Future of Infantry (1933), A History of the World War, 1914-1918 (1934), The German Generals Talk (1948), The Tanks (1959), Deterrent or Defence (1961), and A History of the Second World War (1970). He edited The Rommel Papers (1953).

Bibliography: See his memoirs (2 vol., 1965-66).