The March of Folly: From Troy to Vietnam | Barbara W. Tuchman

The March of Folly: From Troy to Vietnam | Barbara W. Tuchman | a must read

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The March of Folly...

	The March of Folly: From Troy to Vietnam Barbara W. Tuchman Ballantine Books, 1985 - 464 pages average customer review:based on 48 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

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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Prescient and Unintelligible to Neo-Cons

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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a must read

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

The Optimistic Jew

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.

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You can count on one hand the factors leading to folly, but....

...it still persists. Tuchman lays out the history of 4 events - Troy, The Reformation, The US revolution, and The US Vietnam "War" - in her usual comprehensive detail. If you don't want the facts and the facts that lead to the facts, dont bother reading BT. She will bore you. If you are curious as to how history and events evolve, then she delivered again with this one.
What leads to Folly (defined as a group acting contrary to their own best interests) - self-interest over public interests, belief in the monopoly of power, belief that abndonment of the current course will lead to ruin.

An interesting conclusion I drew from this was that open systems that feared their own demise and debated it actually survived and grew stronger. The British Empire expanded for the 100 years after US rebellion, while there were many who believed it would crumble without the American colonies. Many in US policy circles believed that Communist agression, if not checked in Vietnam, would lead to the demise of free and open societies. Clearly events unfolded otherwise.

The open debate of folly in a society leads to progress as in the case of The British Empire and The US. The lack of debate led to the destruction of Troy, and the persistent decline in power of the RC Church since the Renassaince.

All leaders would do well to take heed...

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A Timely Commentary

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.

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