Episode details

Sounds,08 Dec 2023,36 mins

How Britain Invented, Then Ignored, Blitzkrieg

Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford

Available for 172 days

In 1917, a brilliant British officer developed a way to use an emerging military technology: the tank. The British army promptly squandered the idea – but the Germans did not. Blitzkrieg, the devastating advance of German tanks across Europe in 1940, was invented by the British. This is a common story: Sony invented the forerunner of the iPod, Xerox the personal computer, and Kodak the digital camera. In each case they failed to capitalize on the idea. Why?

Programme Website
More episodes