The Lifeblood of War

Book excerpt: The author of this book traces the pattern of the part played by logistics in armed conflict, from antiquity to the present day. The main emphasis of the book is on campaigns dating from the Korean War of 1950 onwards, but three selected campaigns from World War II produce a run-in for what is to follow - as indeed does his briefer coverage of earlier conflicts. As a former brigade commander in the Falklands War of 1982, Thompson draws a picture of what was, in effect, a microcosm of a much larger affair, the special circumstances of that experience offering a wide spectrum of logistic problems. He concludes with a look at the war on the Central Front that never was, and casts a glance into the future in the light of the impending changes for the defence of Europe.