Episode 10: The Captain who Taught Generals: Basil Liddell Hart

Professor Beatrice Heuser and Paul O’Neill CBE

3 January 202331 Minute Listen

Dr Bradley Potter explores the impact of Liddell Hart, a First World War captain who wrote to avert future conflicts and their devastation.

Basil Liddell Hart (1895-1970) was described by President John F. Kennedy as the “captain who taught generals”.

The tools of strategy explored by Liddell Hart ranged from city bombing, manoeuvre warfare to diplomatic means to deflect war or a transition to lasting peace. The 'lasting peace' concept cost him dearly in terms of reputation as he was an appeaser of Hitler in the 1930s, but after the Second World War his reputation recovered. Liddell Hart was the father and grandfather of a particular family of strategic analysts, steeped in the study of history rather than ahistorical theories, and he was awarded RUSI's Chesney Gold Medal in 1963. His pupils include Brian Bond, Sir Michael Howard, the Australian Robert O’Neill and, arguably, General André Beaufre in France. Each in turn passed on the legacy of the Liddell Hartian approach to strategic studies to their subsequent disciples. Second generation heirs included strategic analysts such as Sir Lawrence Freedman (himself a Chesney Gold Medal recipient in 2006) and Azar Gat.

This podcast introduces Dr Bradley Potter, Adjunct Lecturer at Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies.

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