The Lifeblood of War: Logistics in Armed Conflict

Description

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.