The End Is Always Near
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Huns, 110, 112, 115
hydrogen bomb (H-bomb)
Fermi on, 184–185
NSC-68 and, 188–189
Oppenheimer and, 186
strength of, 183, 193
test of, 193
Truman and, 185
Iliad, 29–31
illness. See also disease; plagues
routine, as threatening, 137
smallpox, 54
in threatening civilization, 137
toughness and, 9–10
intellectual fork in the road, 163–164
invasion theory, 41–42, 44–45
Iron Age, 32, 56, 80. See also Assyria
Japan
atomic bomb and, 155–161, 241
conventional bombing and, 155–156
firebombing raids in, 218
industry among civilians, 239
Tokyo bombings, 155–156, 217
Jews, in Middle Ages, 134–135
Johnson, Samuel, 210
Kaku, Michio, 177
Kaplan, Fred, 197
Kaska, 59
Kennedy, Jackie, 207
Kennedy, John F.
Bay of Pigs and, 202
Cuban Missile Crisis and, 204–208
election of, 201, 202
EXCOMM meetings, 205–206
Khrushchev and, 203
televised speech, 207
U2 photographs and, 204–205
on Vienna summit, 203
Kennett, Lee, 226
Khan, Genghis, 137, 160, 213–214
Khrushchev, Nikita, 148, 195, 201–202, 203–204, 206–207
Knell, Hermann, 232
Korean War
as “a police action, 190
as tempting nuclear weapon use, 189
as test case, 191
Lady Jane Grey, 20
Large, David Clay, 228–229
LeMay, Curtis, 159, 191–192, 198, 235
Lilienthal, David, 177, 185
Littman, Robert J., 127
Livy, 6, 96
London Blitz, 236–237
Long Peace, 149
MacArthur, Douglas, 190, 191, 238–239
Manhattan project, 153, 196
Marburg, 140–141
Marius, Gaius, 100
Marshall, George, 239
Marshall Plan, 172
Medes, 6, 84–85
megatsunamis, 51–52
Mellon, 3
Merneptah, 40
Middle Ages. See also Black Death
apprenticeship in, 25
as barbarous, 17
feudalistic relationship, 115
Jews and, 134–135
religion in, 132
migration, 43, 44, 48
military
globally-focused, 172
improvement, 150–151
Japanese, 142
overextension, 84
Roman, 92–94, 101, 105, 114
toughness and, 3–5, 8, 11
Minoans, 52
Mittani, 57, 59
Mongols, 69, 96, 137, 142
Murrow, Edward R., 161, 209
Mycenaeans, 32, 42
Nagasaki, 83, 157–158, 183–184, 198, 212–213
Napoleon, 151, 212
National Security Act of 1947, 171–172
Nazi Germany, 155
Nineveh. See also Assyria
defined, 68
dynastic struggles and, 77
fall of, 71, 72
Halzi Gate, 67–68
population, 68
Xenophon, 69
Nixon, Richard, 201, 202
Nobel, Alfred, 212
North Africa, 90, 92, 116
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), 79
NSC-68, 187–189
nuclear launch codes, 201
nuclear weapons. See also atomic bomb
ancient playbook and, 182
argument for elimination, 195
control of, 200
deterrence, 177–178
electorate and, 200–201
Korean War and, 189–191
opinions on use of, 169
potential destruction of, 160
smaller, 193–194
tactical, 194
Odyssey, 30
Ofstie, Ralph A., 174–175
Operation Barbarossa, 171
Oppenheimer, J. Robert, 154, 162, 182–183, 186, 194, 239
Ostrogoths, 91, 110
pandemics, x, xiii, 129, 144
parenting. See child-rearing practices
Parker, Janet, 141
Patton, George, 4, 169
Pearl Harbor, 171
perception, 63–64
Phrygians, 59
piracy, 43–44
Plague of Athens, 127
Plague of Justinian, 128–129, 130
plagues. See also Black Death
Bronze Age collapse and, 54–56
deaths by, 125
as God’s will, 131
Great Pestilence, 135–136
Greeks, fifth century, 126
human ripples of pain, 131
inn Hattusa, 55–56
modern, consumption levels and, 245
as septicemic, 129
Spanish Flu, 137–140
in systems collapse, 60–61
victims of, 131
Planet of the Apes, 28–29, 67
Plutarch, 6, 101–102
Pompeii, 68
population disasters, 135–136
Poundstone, William, 196
poverty, toughness and, 3–4, 7–9
precision airpower, 225
progress, 27, 63
psychohistory, 16–17
Radford, Arthur W., 174
Ramesses III, 38–39, 40, 42
RAND Corporation, 197
“Red Scare,” 195
resilience, 1, 9, 10
road to hell, 211
Roman army
Adrianople and, 112–115
functioning in combat, 91–92
against German armies, 103
Germanization of, 108–109
Germans in, 107–108
numbers in, 92
Roman Empire
continuity of occupation, 117
crisis period of, 109–110
fall of, 28, 88, 90
at height, 91
renewal of, 121–122
taxing of citizens, 64
transition of, 90
“Romano-Britons,” 89
Romano-Germanic relationship, 105–106, 109–110
Romans
“barbarians” and, 28, 94–95
“blessings of civilization,” 88–89
Britain and, 88
casualties inflicted by, 92
contracts/treaties with tribes, 115
handling of Germans, 107
neighboring states at peace with, 93
Roosevelt, Franklin D., 152, 153, 238
Rosen, William, 126, 128–129
Russell, Bertrand, 170–171, 180, 210
Saint Lebuin, 123
Sakharov, Andrei, 148
Saxons, 122–124
Scandinavia, 97
Schliemann, Heinrich, 31
Schlosser, Eric, 174
scientists and weapons, 151, 153, 160–161
sea peoples
Egyptian encounters with, 38–39
as end to Bronze Age, 40–45
in historical records, 40–41
in invasion theory, 41–42, 44–45
migration and, 43, 44
piracy and, 43–44
Sebelius, Kathleen, 142
Second World War. See also war
B-17 heavy bombers, 222, 225–226
casualties of, 215, 238
Einstein warning before, 152–153
last year of, 154–155, 214
LeMay and, 192
nuclear conflict specter after, 161–162
public opinion before, 223–224
toughness and, 4–5
we
apon technology disparity after, 169
seismic tsunamis, 51, 53
Sennacherib, 82, 83, 84
Shaw, Garry J., 46
Sherry, Michael S., 161
Shibayama, Hiroshi, 158
smallpox, 54–55, 141–142, 144
societies
child-rearing practices in, 16, 17–18
in Total War, 155
in transition, 27–28
Southard, Susan, 158
Soviet Union
army emphasis, 168
A-bomb announcement, 180
in Cold War, 166–167
Cuba missiles and, 205, 207–208
hydrogen bomb, 147–148
land force, 167–168, 179
nuclear war strategies, 200
political systems collapse, 62
Red Army, 170
“Tsar Bomba,” 148–149
United States policy and, 176
war plan against (1951), 194
war with, as inevitability, 168–169
Spaight, James, 226–227, 230
Spanish Flu. See also plagues
Black Death and, 140
compressed nature of, 139–140
deaths, 139, 140
defined, 137
first appearance of, 138
globalization and, 138–139
speed and scope of spreading, 138
as unknown before appearance, 143
Sparta, 7–9
Sparta of Leonidas, 31
Stalin, Joseph, 176, 178, 190, 193
Starr, Chester G., 7, 8, 41–42
state terrorism, 74
Stimson, Henry, 169, 216, 239
stock market crash (1929), 3
Strategic Air Command (SAC), 173
strategic bombing, 192, 223, 234, 241
submarines, 219
“Super, the,” 183, 184, 193. See also hydrogen bomb
superweapons, 152, 153, 160
“Surrender” leaflets, 221
sword of Damocles, 200, 243
systems collapse
Bronze Age, 60–61
modern theory on, 62–63
political, Soviet Union, 62
Tacitus, 101–102, 104–105
tactical nuclear weapons, 194
Tainter, Joseph, 64
Tambora volcano, 49–50
Teutons, 98–99, 100, 103
Thera eruption, 50–52
thermonuclear weapons, 183, 193. See also hydrogen bomb
Tiglath-Pileser III, 77
Total War, 155, 214, 217, 241
toughness
Afghans and, 12
Assyrians and, 72
boxer example, 2
civilized refinement and, 11
concept, 2
in history, 3–5
illness and, 9–10
measuring, 5
military and, 11–12
poverty and, 3–4, 7–9
resiliency and, 1, 9
Spartans and, 7–9
war and, 2–3, 4–5, 9, 13
Trajan, 105
transition, societies in, 27–28
Trinity test, 154, 155, 160
Trojan War, 56
Troy, 30, 31
Truman, Harry S.
atomic bomb and, 156–157
firing MacArthur and, 191
geopolitical situation and, 181–182
hydrogen bomb and, 185
on Korean War, 190
NSC-68 and, 187–189
nuclear bluff game, 176
on Potsdam meeting, 216–217
after Soviet A-bomb test, 182–183
use of superweapons and, 164–165
Truman Doctrine, 171
“Tsar Bomba,” 148–149
tsunamis, 51–54
Tuchman, Barbara, xiii, 131, 136
Tucker, M. J., 20
United States
atomic blitz strategy, 173–174
in Cold War, 167
deterrence, 177–178
military strategy, 174
NSC-68 and, 187–189
nuclear tests, 204
nuclear war strategies, 200
pessimism and decision making, 168–169
SAC development, 172–173
Valens, 110
Valentinian III, 115–116
Vandals, 90, 116
Varus, Publius Quinctilius, 103–104
Verne, Jules, 220
Vikings, 97, 124
violence, children exposure to, 22–24
Visigoths, 90, 111, 116
Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI), 50
volcanos, 49–52
von Neumann, John, 196–197
war. See also specific wars
civilization-destroying outcomes, 159–160
combat pressures of, 214
commanders in, 214–215
global thermonuclear, 204
gods of, 214
nuclear, 158–159
with Soviet Union, as inevitability, 168–169
Total, 155, 214, 217, 241
toughness and, 4–5, 9, 13
warfare
Assyrian, 56–59
in Bronze Age collapse, 42, 56–60
change of rules in, 219
food crisis and, 48
land, new technology in, 219
modern, rules of, 213
weapons. See also specific weapons
bombers as humane, 236
First World War, 152, 219
game-changing, 189
new, on human level, 165
scientists and, 151, 153, 160–161
Second World War, 152–161
submarines, 219
superweapon, 152, 153, 160
technology, 150, 164
Wells, H. G., 145, 220, 222
Wells, Peter, 117
wet nurses, 24–25
Wickham, Chris, 91
Wiener, Malcolm H., 48
Willis, Garry, 156–157, 165, 171
Wilson, Woodrow, 221, 222
wizards of Armageddon, 197–199
wombs of nations, 96, 97
World Health Organization (WHO), 141, 142
World War III, xiii, 45, 158–159, 176, 178–179, 190, 192
Xenophon, 69–71,
About the Author
DAN CARLIN is a pioneering podcaster and the king of long-form audio content. In his Hardcore History shows, which sometimes last over six hours, Carlin humanizes the past and forces the audience to “walk a mile in that other guy’s historical moccasins.” Hardcore History has been downloaded over one hundred million times.
Discover great authors, exclusive offers, and more at hc.com.
Copyright
THE END IS ALWAYS NEAR. Copyright © 2019 by Dan Carlin Ventures LLC. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
Cover image © flubydust/Getty Images
first edition
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Carlin, Dan, 1965- author.
Title: The end is always near : apocalyptic moments, from the Bronze Age collapse to nuclear near misses / Dan Carlin.
Description: First edition. | New York, NY : HarperCollins Publishers, [2019] | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Summary: “A journey back in time that explores what happened — and what could have happened — from creator of the wildly-popular podcast Hardcore History and 2019 winner of the iHeartRadio Best History Podcast Award”— Provided by publisher.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019028462 (print) | LCCN 201
9028463 (ebook) | ISBN 9780062868046 (hardcover) | ISBN 9780062868060 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: World history. | Imaginary histories. | Civilization—History.
Classification: LCC D21.3 .C247 2019 (print) | LCC D21.3 (ebook) | DDC 904—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019028462
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019028463
Digital Edition OCTOBER 2019 ISBN: 978-0-06-286806-0
Version 10172019
Print ISBN: 978-0-06-286804-6
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* This is also the job of the historian. Often journalism and history have a somewhat interconnected/symbiotic relationship as journalists write of current events and then historians mine their work later as primary sources. Often journalists then use the work of historians to tell stories of the past that the historians unearthed, as we are doing here.
* My background is in journalism, and while a true professional should be able to get just as excited covering a a dog show as a war, neither I nor most of my colleagues could do this. Judging from the ratings bumps that occur in news with huge events, it seems many people outside of journalism feel the same way about the “Big Stories.” History, like news, has its big stories and sometimes “if it bleeds it leads” is a phrase that applies to both.
* In many earlier eras of history writing, a large part of the historian’s or author’s goal was to impart or teach some sort of moral lesson, usually by historical example.
* Especially when you broaden it out to focus not just on individuals, but on whole societies.