Evan Wilson
@evanwilson.bsky.social
Naval historian. Associate Professor at US Naval War College. Views own. New book with Paul Kennedy: Planning for War at Sea: 400 Years of Great Power Competition.
Naval officers must be prepared to address not just the tactical and material problems of sustained combat, but the limits of human resiliency. https://www.usni.org/magazines/naval-history/2025/june/more-beer-and-better-movies-managing-resiliency-picket-line
“More Beer and Better Movies:” Managing Resiliency on the Picket Line at Okinawa
Naval officers must be prepared to address not just the tactical and material problems of sustained combat, but the limits of human resiliency.
usni.org
I wrote another post about how much I struggled with episode five of Ken Burns’ American Revolution: open.substack.com/pub/evanmwil...
I have thoughts about the recent announcement that the US Navy will build battleships once more. @warontherocks.bsky.social was kind enough to publish them. warontherocks.com/2026/01/why-...
Why the U.S. Navy Doesn’t Build Battleships Anymore
On Apr. 7, 1945, aircraft from the U.S. Navy’s fast carrier task force sank the largest battleship ever built, the Imperial Japanese Navy’s Yamato.
warontherocks.com
I was not a fan of Ken Burns' American Revolution Episode 5. Some thoughts on the missing global context, and how events in Europe shaped events in the thirteen colonies. evanmwilson.substack.com/p/ken-burns-...
Ken Burns' American Revolution, Episode 5 (1)
A narrow focus, and a missing perspective
evanmwilson.substack.com
Issue 3 of Mainsheet, on Challenges in Maritime Archaeology, is online now. I am especially excited to see the publication of this article by a Ukrainian archaeologist about the underwater heritage of his country and the impacts of the war. 🏺 #oa www.mainsheet.mysticseaport.org/article/1475...
Some background and context for Ken Burns' discussion of the Howe brothers: evanmwilson.substack.com/p/ken-burns-...
Ken Burns' American Revolution, Episode 3
The mysterious Howe brothers
evanmwilson.substack.com
On the Benedicts Arnold and the family's connection to Newport, inspired by Ken Burns' American Revolution Episode 2: evanmwilson.substack.com/p/ken-burns-...
Ken Burns' American Revolution, Episode 2
The Arnold Family of Newport
evanmwilson.substack.com
Some additional commentary on Ken Burns' American Revolution Episode 1. I talk about missing India; Suffren; and sending the army to the colonies. evanmwilson.substack.com/p/ken-burns-...
Ken Burns' American Revolution, Episode 1
Framing the war
evanmwilson.substack.com
I tried to figure out what applied history is, and what it means that I have to care about it in my day job: evanmwilson.substack.com/p/applied-hi...
Applied History
An anatomy
evanmwilson.substack.com
Why did convoys work? With apologies for the Buzzfeed-style subtitle... #navalhistory evanmwilson.substack.com/p/why-did-co...
Why did convoys work?
The answer might surprise you (sorry)
evanmwilson.substack.com
A Hunger-Games-style proposal for solving the Royal Navy's manning problems in 1813: evanmwilson.substack.com/p/a-plan-for...
A Plan for Manning the Royal Navy, 1813
From the cutting-room floor
evanmwilson.substack.com
Retraction watch--a double whammy! Plagiarism AND a double submission! Don't see that every day. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
‘More Prussian than the Prussian’? Battlefield Prisoner Killing by British and Canadian Forces on the Western Front, 1914–1918 - RETRACTION | Transactions of the Royal Historical Society | Cambridge C...
‘More Prussian than the Prussian’? Battlefield Prisoner Killing by British and Canadian Forces on the Western Front, 1914–1918 - RETRACTION - Volume 3
cambridge.org
What made Nelson ordinary, and what made him extraordinary. evanmwilson.substack.com/p/admiral-lo...
Admiral Lord Nelson in Context
A blast from the past
evanmwilson.substack.com
oh my god this. And it bleeds into writing. I have to yell to my students “if it’s in the past USE PAST TENSE.”
Jane Gulliford Lowes@lydiajane13.bsky.social · 10mo agoThe use of present tense in historical documentaries DRIVES ME INSANE.
I wrote about the Continental Navy on its 250th birthday, specifically about why its dismal combat record obscures its other accomplishments. I've also got a section in there about the challenges the British faced in the early years of the Revolution. Check it out: open.substack.com/pub/evanmwil...
The 250th Anniversary of the U.S. Navy
From Britain's Perspective
open.substack.com
I wrote about Charlton Heston writing about Patrick O'Brian in an academic book. What's not to like about that sentence? evanmwilson.substack.com/p/arms-and-t...
Arms and the Man
Charlton Heston takes on Patrick O'Brian
evanmwilson.substack.com
Historian achievement unlocked: I've just had my own book explained to me by a stranger.
It's the hover-text that does it. Historians, click through: xkcd.com/3127/
Where Babies Come From
xkcd.com
In Nelson's era, were British ships really worse than French and Spanish ships? I investigate Patrick O'Brian's claims: evanmwilson.substack.com/p/men-of-war...
Men-of-War: Life in Nelson's Navy 2
Part two of my review
evanmwilson.substack.com
I wrote about Patrick O'Brian's evolving relationship with Lord Cochrane, and about how Stephen Maturin lies about his income to Diana Villiers when he proposes in HMS SURPRISE. Check it out! evanmwilson.substack.com/p/hms-surpri...
HMS Surprise - Cochrane; Maturin's Pay
A Naval Miscellany
evanmwilson.substack.com
Stephen Maturin reflects on the types of naval officers in HMS Surprise. He wasn't the first to do that: evanmwilson.substack.com/p/hms-surpri...
HMS Surprise - Types of Naval Officers
Drawn from the History of the British Navy
evanmwilson.substack.com
Patrick O'Brian's Stephen Maturin is an unbelievable character, in the most literal sense. Yet he compels us to suspend our disbelief, and he sticks in our mind long after we're finished with the series. A post from my dad: evanmwilson.substack.com/p/really #navalhistory
Really?
The Unbelievable Stephen Maturin
evanmwilson.substack.com
@evanwilson.bsky.social’s excellent The Horrible Peace makes the point that while a celebrated portion of the Royal Navy was busy trying to stop the slave trade, the British army was suppressing enslaved people’s bids for freedom in Barbados, Demerara & Jamaica. alanlester.co.uk/blog/the-wes...
The West Africa Squadron Memorial: An Exercise in Virtue Signalling and Denial
Alan Lester* In recent months the Daily Mail and right wing groups have mounted a clamour for a new memorial to be built in Portsmouth. In principle, the proposal seems reasonable, since it is to c…
alanlester.co.uk