Harvest of Mars: History and War
Harvest of Mars seeks to uncover the essentials of war. Essentials that have been swept under the rug or forgotten by people and societies eager to rewrite history in a way that is intellectually pleasing. This podcast seeks to open your eyes to aspects of military history that, as Paul Fussell accurately noted, never got into the books because of what he called the Disneyfication of war. Here you will get authentic insights from someone who has a genuine love for the material.If you are curious and enjoy seeing things from a new perspective, this is the podcast for you! You do not even know a lot about military history. Perhaps you enjoy stories about the past but have never taken a history course and are just curious. It’s all good. I get students all the time who are new to history and they learn a ton because I nudge people toward new things they have not thought about rather than have them memorize facts. .
Episodes
"The epithets of drill instructors or fellow soldiers - 'maggot,' 'faggot,' 'snuffy,' 'pussy,' or simply 'woman' - left no doubt that not becoming a soldier meant not being a man."
- Mark Gerzon
This episodes question is straightforward: why have human societies across cultures, continents, and eras have met the challenge of war in basically the same way: by assembling grou...
"Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face."
- American boxer Mike Tyson
The viral question of Spring 2025 on Social Media: who would win in a fight, 100 men or 1 gorilla? Here, we look into history for insights into how humans would behave in the situation. And remember, these examples are coming from men specifically selected and trained for months to fight in cohesive groups...
“Of the 403,272 tank soldiers (including a small number of women) who were trained by the Red Army in the war, 310,000 would die. Even the most optimistic troops knew what would happen when a tank was shelled. The white-hot flash of the explosion would almost certainly ignite the tank crew’s fuel and ammunition. At best, the crew—or those at least who had not been decapitated or dismembered by the shell itself—would have no more th...
“That is a war that’s dying to be settled. I will get it settled before I even become president.”
- Donald Trump, during a September 2024 presidential debate
US President-elect Donald Trump has for two years loudly and boldly proclaimed that the Russia-Ukraine war needs to end, and that he is uniquely qualified to quickly bring that about. This episode explores the challenges Mr. Trump will face in his efforts to bring about a deal...
“When America had defeated Japan by detonating an atomic bomb, the Führer had sent a V-3 rocket to explode in the skies of New York to prove he could retaliate in kind if struck. After that, the war had dwindled to ... a nuclear stalemate the diplomats called the cold war.”
- Robert Harris, from the novel Fatherland.
In this episode we continue to look at one of the most common “What If?” questions in history: the plausibility of ...
“This is how history went after McCoy changed it … Because ALL this lets them develop the A-bomb first. With the A-bomb & with their V2 rockets to carry them, Germany captured the world.”
- Spock, from the Star Trek Episode, “The City on the Edge of Forever.”
In this episode we look at one of the most common “What If?” questions in history: the plausibility of the Axis powers (specifically Germany) winning the Second World War...
“I had a feeling of the essential rightness of all. He was dead and I was alive; it could so easily have been the other way round; and that would somehow have been right too.”
- Richard Hillary, Royal Air Force pilot, reflecting on the first German plane he shot down
In this episode we look at the controversial claim made by US Army General S.L.A. Marshall in 1947, when he asserted that less than 25% of US riflemen fired their wea...
"AIR RAID ON PEARL HARBOR. THIS IS NOT DRILL."
– US Navy dispatch, December 7, 1941.
In this episode we look at one of the all-too frequent examples of a successful surprise attack in modern warfare. Most students of history are familiar with the basics: an (un)fortunate set of circumstances enabled Japanese carrier air forces to achieve complete surprise and inflict heavy damage to US military forces ...
"Moltke is not a general to copy but to study"
- J.F.C. Fuller
In this episode we look at Helmuth von Moltke (the Elder), the Prussian Chief of the Prussian General Staff most noted for the dramatic Prussian victories over Austria and France which led to the foundation of Germany in 1871. Most historians will casually acknowledge him as a brilliant military figure and attribute the dramatic rise of Pru...
- Vox, June 12, 2023
In this episode we examine Ukraine's 2023 summer offensive, specifically why it has not achieved the lofty expectations that many Ukrainian backers were hoping for. I suspect future historians will look back at the offensive and cite it as a classic case of psychological i...
“The guerrilla wins if he does not lose.”
– Henry Kissinger
In this episode we update a classic article written by Andrew Mack back in 1975. As I feel strongly enough that a 50-year-old article is worth re-investigating and much of this analysis is based on Mack’s original conclusions, I highly recommend you read the original which is easily available in digital format. Its full title is “Why Big Nations Lose Small...
“There is a story, no doubt apocryphal, that gamers at the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, have many times replayed the 1942 Battle of Midway - but have never been able to produce an American victory.”
– Taken from historian Robert Cowley’s book What If?
“Find better gamers.”
– My response.
In this episode, we look at the celebrated Battle of Midway, in which US naval forces decisively defeated the Impe...
– Napoleon Bonaparte
This is the last of a three-part series on the Emperor of the French inspired by historian Andrew Robert’s biography, Napoleon: A Life. The book is quite good at revealing the human being behind the controversial historical figure. Focusing primarily on the military sphere, this episode examines the significa...
“Ukraine has achieved irreversible momentum.”
-- US General Ben Hodges, Retired, November 3, 2022
“From a military standpoint, I still maintain that for this year it would be very, very difficult to militarily eject the Russian forces from every inch of Russian-occupied Ukraine.”
-- US General Mark Milley, January 20, 2023
In the episode, we look at the nature of wartime reporting and investigate how the c...
“You must not fight too often with one enemy, or you will teach him all your art of war.”
– Napoleon Bonaparte
This is the second of a three-part series on the Emperor of the French inspired by historian Andrew Robert’s biography, Napoleon: A Life. The book is quite good at revealing the human being behind the controversial historical figure. Focusing primarily on the military sphere, this episode examines the significanc...
“He who fears being conquered is certain of defeat.”
– Napoleon Bonaparte
In the first of this two-part episode, we take a look at the Emperor of the French inspired by historian Andrew Robert’s biography, Napoleon: A Life. The book is quite good at revealing the human being behind the controversial historical figure. Focusing primarily on the military sphere, this episode examines the significance of military genius, th...
“People Sleep Peacefully in Their Beds at Night Only Because Rough Men Stand Ready to Do Violence on Their Behalf”
– Attributed to George Orwell
In the episode, we examine whether or not Orwell’s quote has historical evidence to support it. Are people civilized only because less civilized men guard them while they sleep? Building on the scholarship of Georges Dumézil who compared the mythologies are various Indo European peo...
"Russia's advantages in capacity, capability, and geography combine to pose insurmountable challenges for Ukrainian forces tasked with defending their country." -- The RAND Corporation, January 21, 2022
In the episode, we investigate how events in the Russia-Ukraine war have unfolded. It was widely predicted by Western strategists the Russia was so much more powerful than Ukraine that any assistance Washing...
“My centre is giving way, my right is retreating, excellent situation, I am attacking.”
– General Ferdinand Foch, 1914
In the episode, we take a look at the difference in offensives during the two world wars. It is commonly asserted that the defensive was superior in WWI, and thus the generals who ordered the attacks are often portrayed as unthinking donkeys who ordered futile attacks. Have memories of the horrors of Verdun a...
“My generals know nothing about the economic aspects of war.”
– Adolf Hitler
In the episode, we take a look at the German generals of World War II. With the imagery of Blitzkrieg occupying a prominent place in WWII histories, the reputation of the German generals as exceptional military commanders has persisted despite defeat. Growing up in the United States during the 1980s, I always thought it was fascinating that I knew...
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