ABSTRACT
The abiding presence of Niccolò Machiavelli can be seen in the links between the reputation and achievements of Machiavelli himself and an outwardly fardistant and very different figure, Sir Douglas Haig. Haig commanded British land forces on the western front for most of the First World War. Machiavelli could not have known of Sir Douglas Haig, and Sir Douglas Haig would have known of Machiavelli only by name. Placing the two side by side might seem to recreate the comic pairing of the Medici condottiere, Giovanni delle Bande Nere, and Machiavelli, when, after two hours of hopeless drilling by Machiavelli, it fell to the condottiere to restore discipline in the twinkling of an eye. Yet, if the meeting at the Orti Oricellari in 1516 that is the setting for The Art of War were to be recreated in 1918, it is likely that Sir Douglas Haig could take the place of the mercenary commander Fabrizio Colonna, as one of the most famous and respected commanders of his day.
