Ebook: The Lifeblood of War: Logistics in Armed Conflict

LOGISTICS: THE ART OF MOVEMENT AND SUPPLY OF TROOPS

This study of the place of logistics in the military campaign uses a
number of campaigns to iliustrate how the problem of supplying
forces has been tackled over the centuries. From the earliest
standing army - that of the Assyrians — to the later years of the
nineteenth century, warfare was constrained by logistical
limitations. As Julian Thompson demonstrates, the advent of the
railway and mechanicai transportation increased immeasurably
operational possibilities, as well as bringing new problems in their
wake.

By examining the changes in logistical operations over selected
campaigns, he identifies the essential. elements in successful
supply and how campaigns have suffered as a result of logistic
deficiency. The unpreparedness of the United States before the
Korean War and the failures of the French in lndo-China are
contrasted with the ‘logistic triumph’ of Burma in the Second
World War. Full consideration is given to the techniques of
supply; from the sea for Alexander to the air-drops into Khe Sanh.
Thompson, as Brigade commander in the Falklands, brings his
unique experience to the description of the maintenance ofa land
battle at the end of a supply line 8,000 miles long.

Finally, the logistic plans for the Central Front war ‘that never
was’ are discussed and pointers are given to the future when
mobility will be even more important than before.

The Lifeblood of War is not a book about ‘nuts and bolts’ but an
absorbing and highly readable study of principle and practice.