The military historian Correlli Barnett, who has died aged 95, was a prolific and controversial writer. His books took aim at the myths surrounding Britain’s wartime exploits, in particular the way in which its armed forces were led during the first and second world wars.
Barnett – or “Bill” as he was universally known – was convinced that Britain’s political and military leaders, as well as the mandarins who provided them with administrative support, were regularly guilty of abysmal incompetence during periods of conflict, and that repeated failures to learn lessons or adopt reform had contributed to Britain’s decline as a nation.
