The best-selling account of World War II in every theater of operations by the foremost military analyst of our time. The late Captain Basil Liddell Hart's private library and famous and voluminous archives of personal correspondence with such giants as Lloyd George and Churchill; the notes of the detailed interviews which he conducted after the war with the captured German generals, as well as with the leading Allied commanders who had so often turned to him for inspiration and advice; the subject files and private papers placed in his hands by many of his great contemporaries-all constitute that priceless personal collection of private documents upon which the present magnificent work is based. It is military history in the broadest possible scale, ranging from the frustrating events preceding the war, through all the campaigns and battles of seven turbulent years, to the final conclusion of hostilities. Trenchant, searching, thought-provoking, it is a study in realism and object analysis, uncluttered by self-deception. Cherished illusions fade under fresh surveillance; long-held beliefs of justification fail under new questioning; reputations are reexamined by one of the most incisive minds of our time; judgments of our past are made lessons for our present and our future.

李德·哈特爵士（Basil H.Liddell Hart,1895-1970），英国军事记者、军事理论家、战略学家。生于法国巴黎。早年就读于英国剑桥大学。第一次世界大战期间服役，任步兵团军官，并曾在战斗中负伤。后来加入英国皇家军事教育协会。一战结束后，先后服务于《英国每日电讯报》（1925-1935）和《英国泰晤士报》（1935-1939），从事军事记者工作。李德·哈特同时也是著名的军事战略家，在军事学上提出了“间接路线”的观念以及涵盖军事以外领域的“大战略”概念，同时他也是现代战争“装甲兵”作战的鼓吹者。李德哈特与克劳塞维兹同时被誉为西方战略思想史中的两位现代战略大师。主要著作有：《大战略——间接路线》、《第一次世界大战战史》、《第二次世界大战战史》、《沙漠之狐隆美尔》等。1966年被英国皇家授予爵士勋章。