Two Captains of British Historical Science: Basil Henry Liddell Hart and Michael Howard in World War II Studies
https://doi.org/10.21603/sibscript-2025-27-6-1085-1094
Abstract
The article describes the United Kingdom in World War II as contemplated by Basil Henry Liddell Hart and Michael Howard. These two British historians developed two different approaches to military history. Both were connected with King’s College London, which served as an institutional platform for British military studies. B. H. Liddel Hart relied on the strategy of indirect approach in his assessment of WWII. His strategic analysis shifted from the grand naval strategy to mechanized warfare. M. Howard criticized B. H. Liddel Hart’s strategic approach for leaving out the historical context. His own conceptual basis for WWII was entirely contextual. These two approaches to WWII studies are much more than individual views: they reflect the intergenerational differences in the institutional organization of military-historical knowledge and the evolution of various WWII- related theoretical and methodological approaches.
About the Author
Victor V. Mironov
Dostoevsky Omsk State University
Russian Federation
Competing Interests:
Russian Federation
Omsk
Scopus Author ID: 57218993856
Competing Interests:
The author declared no potential conflict of interests regarding the research, authorship, and / or publication of this article.
References
1. Basik I. I. The outpost of military history. The 55th anniversary of the Military History Research Institute of the RF AF General Staff Military Academy. Voenno-Istoricheskii Zhurnal, 2021, (11): 64–71. (In Russ.) https://elibrary.ru/cyuasv
2. Howard M. Grand Strategy. Vol. 4. August 1942 – September 1943. Moscow: Voenizdat, 1980, 464. (In Russ.)
3. Kadyrov D. E. Methodology of sociohistorical knowledge: Approach of the Cambridge school of intellectual history. Znanie. Ponimanie. Umenie, 2018, (3): 253–260. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.17805/zpu.2018.3.24
4. Collingwood R. G. The idea of history. Autobiography. Moscow: Nauka, 1980, 486. (In Russ.) https://elibrary.ru/szgslv
5. Corbett J. Operation of the English fleet in World War. Minsk: Kharvest, 2003, 480. (In Russ.)
6. Lovejoy A. The great chain of being: A study of the history of an idea. Moscow: Dom intellektualnoi knigi, 2001, 376. (In Russ.)
7. Liddell Hart B. H. History of the Second World War. Moscow: Terra Fantastica, AST, 1999, 374. (In Russ.)
8. Liddell Hart B. H. History of the First World War. Moscow: AST, 2017, 578. (In Russ.)
9. Liddell Hart B. H. The truth about the war of 1914–1918. Moscow: Gos. voen. izd-vo, 1935, XV+394. (In Russ.)
10. Liddell Hart B. H. Colonel Lawrence, The man behind the legend. Moscow: Voenizdat, 1939, 296. (In Russ.)
11. Liddell Hart B. H. The decisive wars in history: A study in strategy. Moscow: Tsentrpoligraf, 2012, 288. (In Russ.) https://elibrary.ru/qpxwif
12. Liddell Hart B. H. Strategy: The indirect approach. Moscow: AST, 2018, 508. (In Russ.)
13. Torkunov A. V. The Great Victory and the world political process. History of the Great Victory. Vol. 1. The eve of the tragedy, ed. Torkunov A. V. Moscow: MGIMO, 2020, 3–16. (In Russ.) https://elibrary.ru/qjznpu
14. Whatmore R. What is intellectual history? Moscow: NLO, 2023, 200. (In Russ.)
15. Howard M. Franco-Prussian war. Otto Bismarck vs. Napoleon III, 1870–1871. Moscow: Tsentrpoligraf, 1990, 303. (In Russ.)
16. Booth K. Strategy and ethnocentrism. London: Croom Helm, 1979, 191.
17. Bragança М., Tame P. European neutrals in World War II and after: A balancing act. Memories of the Second World War in neutral Europe, 1945–2023, eds. Bragança М., Tame P. London: Routledge, 2024, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003152422-1
18. Eckel J. Pivot years. World War II in 20th-century history. Journal of Modern European History, 2023, 21(2): 154–174. https://doi.org/10.1177/16118944231163225
19. Howard M. Captain professor: A life in war and peace. New York: Continuum, 2006, 232.
20. Howard M., Sparrow J. The coldstream guards, 1920–1946. London – New York: Oxford University Press, 1951, 638.
21. Jackson A. Introduction. National perspectives on the Global Second World War, ed. Jackson A. London: Routledge, 2023, 1–9.
22. Levy J. P. The crisis of British sea power: The collapse of a Naval Hegemon 1942. New York: Routledge, 2024, 158.
23. Liddell Hart B. H. History of the Second World War. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1971, XVI+768.
24. Morgan-Owen D., Finch M. The unrepentant historian: Sir Michael Howard and the birth of war studies. British Journal for Military History, 2022, 8(2): 55–76.
25. Tarabini Fracapane S. The Jews of Denmark in the Holocaust: Life and death in Theresienstadt ghetto. London: Routledge, 2022, 434.
26. Walters R. E., Mearsheimer J. Liddell Hart and the weight of history. Naval War College Review, 1990, 43(2). https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/nwc-review/vol43/iss2/35 (accessed 7 Apr 2025).
27. War Studies at 60: Past, Present, Future, ed. Ellen L. London, 2021, 48.
Review
For citations:
Mironov V.V. Two Captains of British Historical Science: Basil Henry Liddell Hart and Michael Howard in World War II Studies. SibScript. 2025;27(6):1085-1094. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.21603/sibscript-2025-27-6-1085-1094
Views:
44
Email this article 