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The March of Folly: From Troy to Vietnam |  | Author: Barbara W. Tuchman
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Category: Book
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Rating:  56 reviews
Sales Rank: 59958
Media: Paperback
Edition: later printing
Pages: 447
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.3 x 1.3
ISBN: 0345308239
Dewey Decimal Number: 909.08
EAN: 9780345308238
ASIN: 0345308239
Publication Date: February 12, 1985
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Product Description
Twice a winner of the Pulitzer Prize, author Barbara Tuchman now tackles the pervasive presence of folly in governments through the ages. Defining folly as the pursuit by governments of policies contrary to their own interersts, despite the availability of feasible alternatives, Tuchman details four decisive turning points in history that illustrate the very heights of folly in government: the Trojan War, the breakup of the Holy See provoked by the Renaissance Popes, the loss of the American colonies by Britain's George III, and the United States' persistent folly in Vietnam. THE MARCH OF FOLLY brings the people, places, and events of history magnificently alive for today's reader.
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 56
 An excellent review of military politics October 15, 2006
Chris
16 out of 16 found this review helpful
Other reviewers have suggested that this is not one of Tuchman's best books. This may not be a fair observation in comparison to "Guns of August" or "The Calamitous 14th Century". Overall I found this book to be a concise and well-written work with the chapters well organized and consistent.
Some reviewers have pointed out that this book may have been intented to viel a criticism of the US war in Vietnam. Whether that is the case or not, it seems evident that referring to the Vietnam war as folly is hardly controversial these days. True, her points may be relevant to the current Iraq war, but I think that the larger point that she is trying to make is that folly applies to many political and military conflicts between nations. If her comments apply to the Iraq war, could they not also apply to Serbia's Balkan wars, or Chechnya, or the UN's disjointed attempts at reining in North Korea or Iran? Her points and concerns raised through these case examples are worth considering in modern times throughout dozens of current conflicts worldwide.
All in all, this is an excellent book. fans of Tuchman or history in general will not be disappointed.
Entertaining history at its best November 21, 2004
C. B Collins Jr. (Atlanta, GA United States)
13 out of 14 found this review helpful
Barbara Tuchman's The March of Folly certainly is an interesting and informative book. I give this excellent book 5 stars even though there are a few concerns I had on a few of her assertions and a wish for more detail in other areas.
One strength of the book is Tuchman's effort to define "folly" with a strict criteria and then compare events from history to that criteria. Basically she defines "folly" as the pursuit of policy against self-interest in the face of evidence contradicting the wisdom of the policy. Further, the "folly" must be counter-productive and the decision of a group rather than an individual. The "folly" must continue despite dissenting voices and articulated options or alternatives.
The chapters on the Renaissance Popes was very entertaining and decadent. Tuchman takes the reader through the papacy of Sixtus IV (from the powerful della Rovera family)who expanded the college of Cardinals to meet his policitical ends; Innocent VII who indulged his son and promoted the rise of the Borgia and Di Medici families in the papal court; Alexander VI who would have to be considered as the worst pope in history due to his total conversion of his religious office into a secular worldly power; Julius II (another della Rovera) who was a warrior pope and the patron of Michaelangelo; Leo X (a di Medici) who used the papacy for indulgence and gain of his Florentine family; and Clement VII who became the virtual prisoner of Emperor Charles V after the invasion and conquest of Rome.
The story of these 6 popes is a wild tale full of murder, treachery, theft, bribery, sexual depravity, and power politics. In short, the Papacy had become a secular state during this period and Realpolitic was the driving philosophy rather than a church concerned with Christianity. Tuchman indicates that a rising voice of discontent was developing, which erupts with the resistance of Martin Luther in protest against the sale of indulgences. It is on this point that I wish Tuchman had written more. The development of resistance and rebellion against Catholicism needed more explanation and historic development to parallel the decadence and worldly pursuits of the papacy. These six popes seemed insulated to the point that only secular power politics and self aggrandizement were within their range of concerns and actions. Whereas as a group they certainly practiced "folly" in terms of the credibility of the Catholic church, they each pursued rational behaviors if survival in a world of warring states and gain from office are seen as the overiding concerns of these 6 men. The Catholic papacy had drifted away from it's Christian mission and taken on new missions more realistic for a secular state. Thus the "folly" was embedded in organizational drift.
The chapters on the loss of the American colonies by the British better fit Tuchman's thesis on the nature of "folly". In these chapters miscalculations, pride, and minimization of dissenting information and voices certainly led to a break between Britian and the Colonies that was initially desired by neither party.
The chapters on the war in Vietnam certainly document the gradual fall into this crisis over the Presidencies of Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon. Tuchman does a good job of explaining how the French had practiced unfair dominance on their Vietnam colony, setting the stage for rebellion against western domination; how DeGaul pressured the United States to support the French in Vietnam in return for France's participation in NATO; how the United States interpreted interactions in Vietnam through the prism of the Cold War as compared to the Vietnamese who saw the conflict as a war of independence.
After reading all the wonderful examples given by Tuchman; what is the answer as to how to avoid "folly"? Tuchman sees pursuit of power as a force that sets the stage for folly. Power means that the interests of one group is advanced over the interest of another creating a competitive dichotomy of concerns and interests. Tuchman also sees vested interests contrary to the larger principles as a force that initiates "folly". Personal incompetence in persons with power allows mission drift and creates the furtile soil on which others can play for personal gain rather than collective gain. Excessive power frequently leads to disorder and injustice in many cases but a powerful central force that maintains mission goals over personal gain would also seem to be necessary. Conceptual stagnation when mental flexibility is needed also leads to "folly", primarily because adaptive leadership to new and changing conditions is absent. Tuchman gives examples of situations where policy is based on outdated principles and that when contrary information arises, the policy becomes more rigid rather than more flexible. Error is to be expected. Persistence in error is the path to "folly".
Studying History Can Be Frustrating February 8, 2003
David M. Sapadin (Naperville, IL United States)
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
Barbara Tuchman was probably getting frustrated by the time she wrote March of Folly. Because anyone who studies history learns early on just how much of human history is, well, folly. In this work, Ms. Tuchman focuses on four graphic examples of it. Sometimes the fabulous human follies actually works out (such as the American Revolution which worked out well enough for us if not for the British!) but most times it doesn't, such as Viet Nam. Nowhere will you find such a clear, relatively brief, yet very accurate and readable history of how the U.S. found itself stuck in that debacle than in this fine work. Many will be surprised how far back our involvement went, and that it wasn't all Lyndon Johnson's fault...although our involvement was brought to its inevitable climax (and failure) under his watch. So if you aren't interested in the other three "follies" Tuchman examines (Troy, The causes of the Protestant Reformation, The "loss" of America by the British) then, as another reviewer has suggested, read it for the Viet Nam part alone. So how many of you think we're headed into a "folly" in Iraq? Hmmm - I see the show of hands is just about even. Which also goes to prove (once again) how easy it is to find folly when you have the luxury of hindsight. Nevertheless, Tuchman implores us to continue to try to learn from the past.
Brilliant November 10, 1999
Peter Dolwin (fad70@dial.pipex.com) (Cambridge, England)
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
The book is a penetrating analysis of the collective madness that overtakes governments, causing them to act consistently, wittingly and willingly in a manner inimical to their own interests. This process is illustrated by a collection of essays on the wooden horse, the Renaissance Popes, The British loss of America and the Vietnam War. An excellent read and a book that I, as a consultant, have given away a number of times to clients who were similarly hell-bent on self-destruction - with excellent results.
Telling lessons from the past for the future January 4, 2000
11 out of 12 found this review helpful
A marvellous book. People looking for a synopsis of the book can get that from the other reviews. I'd like to take exception to A.Bowdoin Van Riper's contention that nothing useful can be gleaned from the book in respect of understanding history. I would have thought that illustrating how folly in its variety of manifestations operates in forming governments' policies is a very useful lesson of history. It is precisely in the manner that Tuchman illustrates how folly - a very human condition - comes into play that lessons for the future can and should be learnt. Her definitions of folly are much more intellingent and pertinent than this reviewer gives credit for.As for the reviewer who dismisses this as 'liberal', well ... what can you say to the wilfully blind that might open their eyes? Nothing.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 56
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