Sir Basil Liddell Hart

<p>The first unofficial biography of Sir Basil Liddell Hart (1895-1970). Nobody had more influence on Anglophone military thought over the last 100 years. He was born in the reign of Victoria came of age in the year before the Great War and wrote doctrine from the year after. In 1925 (when he was still 29 years of age) the rising Chief of the Imperial General Staff (CIGS) desperate for good press encouraged The Daily Telegraph to hire him as military correspondent. From that year he published journalistic reports every few days magazine articles every few months and about one book per year for a total of at least 35 books. He claimed to have been published in 42 countries and 31 languages.</p><p>He was yet more prolific as a letter-writer. His own archive contains almost 1000 correspondents. He garnered inside information which raised the value of his journalism and thence the books based on his journalism. By the 1930s he directly advised ministers and flag officers.</p><p>Most of his policies prescriptions and predictions seemed discredited by the Second World War. However during the 1950s he popularized himself as prodigy family man intellectual war hero exposer of hard truths about the Great War rigorous historian author of British doctrine strategist fearless journalist Army insider and outside critic political sage opponent of appeasement secret guru to Britain's government during the Second World War misunderstood proponent of negotiated peace maligned proponent of a low-cost war inventor of Blitzkrieg America's adopted hero Israel's inspiration academic writer and mentor to a new generation of historians. In 1965 his memoirs cemented the narrative. In 1966 he was knighted by the Queen and photographed for the National Portrait Gallery.</p><p>Previous memorialists and biographers relied on what Liddell Hart said or wrote late in life - about what he had said or written early in life. Since then new archives of correspondence have been opened. This biography is the first to cite those archives. It gives a fresh and objective insight into Liddell Hart's life thought and legacy.</p>