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Summary:
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.
Customer Reviews:
Average Customer Rating:
Iraq is not a swamp
Customer Rating:
I bought this book for its largish (~150 pgs) final section on Vietnam, a "war" I had been too young to understand at the time. This section is absolutely prescient vis-a-vis the Iraq debacle. Case in point, the Tonkin Gulf resolution was the precursor to the 2002's Iraq resolution, right down to its timing: before an election. Obviously nobody in the Bush administration read this, or if they did, they missed the point, or if they didn't miss the point, they didn't verbalize it, or if they did verbalize it, they were ignored. General Powell certainly wasn't unaware of the similarities as he so famously retorted that "Iraq is not a swamp" when questioned about the possibility the US was getting itself into another Vietnam: apparently not being a swamp was the ONLY difference he could see. And so, as Santayana foresaw, history repeated itself. Tuchman like Santayana also has a penchant for phrasing with the potential for eternal quotability; e.g., as regard Lyndon Johnson: "No one is so sure of his premises as the man who knows too little"
a must read
Customer Rating:
Barbara Tuchman wrote a pithy historical analysis that reveals how empires and nations vigorously pursue some poliicies and actions that are completely against their own best interests. This is a must read, especially given the misnamed current "war on terror," and America's tragic and costly blunder into Iraq. John W Greco, Scottsdale,AZ
A Timely Commentary
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Though written in 1984, this book takes apart governmental decision-making and reveals that since Biblical times right on through the Viet Nam War, government leaders frequently operated against the best interests of their nations. The "folly" is that these leaders knew they were on the wrongtrack but did little to correct their errors while they continued to defend them. Though the book deals extensively with the Viet Nam War (as well as the American Revolution and the Seige of Troy), the current fiasco in Iraq is very much on the mind of the reader. Almost every misstep by the British at the time of the American Revolution was replicated in some form during Viet Nam and it is clearly being repeated again in Iraq.
The Optimistic Jew
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Chapter One of this book is entitled "Pursuit of Policy Contrary to Self-Interest". Here Ms. Tuchman identifies what she feels are the three criteria for folly: 1) it must have been perceived as counter-productive in its own time (not in hindsight); 2) a feasible alternative course of action must have been available; and 3) the policy in question should be that of a group (of rulers or entire societies) and not of single individuals. In my book "The Optimistic Jew" I identify Israel's misconceived settlement policy in the occupied territories since the Six Day War as the most self-damaging project in the history of Zionism. It is Israel's (and Jewry's) very own "March of Folly" and satisfies all of Tuchman's criteria.
Prescient and Unintelligible to Neo-Cons
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Barbara Tuchman wrote this book to illustrate some of the worst examples of leadership throughout history. She retells the mythical story of Trojan defeat, Papal life that spawned the Reformation, British obtuseness that lost America and the U.S. experience in Vietnam. Although casual readers of history have heard these tales before, Tuchman's version is original and trenchant with a touch of weary sarcasm.
The origins of the Reformation are usually told from Luther's viewpoint, but Tuchman sketches the Popes' lifestyles and family conections from 1470-1530. It was an era when civil and religious warlords were so drawn to the demonstration of opulence and power that the Popes could no more represent Christ's message than mafia dons. Michaelangelo asked Julius II if he should be painted with a book in hand. "Put a sword there," he replied. "I know nothing of letters."
Most Americans have heard the improbable success-story of the Revolution, but Tuchman relates the story from Parliament where the British ruling class exerted their perogatives. America was only a newspaper item to the titled Brits- not one in position of authority ever set foot here- unless he commanded an army. This peek at Royal Britain goes a long way to explain why they were so determined to bend America to their laws and interests. Of course there were distinguished Cassandras among them- Pitt, Burke, Barre and others- But, all were ignored.
America became the fool in the 20th century when she tried to prop up a corrupt and incompetent faction in South Vietnam. I was surprised to to read that all Presidents involved had plenty of warning about the tenacity of the North, the ineffectiveness of our bombing, the futility of "Vietnamization, the ultimate harm we were doing to our country... Somehow we inveigled leaders who would lie and misrepresent only to dig a deeper hole. They persisted to "work the levers" even when they knew it was a lost cause.
If Ms. Tuchman were alive and able to update this work, Junior Bush's war would provide the perfect fodder. His war fits so many descriptives that could be applied to previous follies. And yet, the millions of Americans who remembered Vietnam and saw the similarities with Iraq were unable to stop it. I'll close with a quote from Tuchman that is about Vietnam, but is relevant to many ill-conceived conflicts: "The follies...begin with continuous over-reacting: in the invention of endangered 'national security,' the invention of 'vital interest,' the invention of a 'commitment' which rapidly assumed a life of its own, casting a spell over the inventor."
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