Pure Logistics: The Science of War Preparation

Thorpe’s minor classic, Pure Logistics, was written while he was a student and instructor at the US Naval War College. Although first published in 1917, Thorpe was well ahead of his time in his perception of the place of logistics in development and projection of military power. Thorpe identified logistics as a distinctive branch of warfare—one of equal importance to strategy and tactics—and understood the need to address logistics at the national defence level.