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The March of Folly: From Troy to Vietnam (Unabridged)
 
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The March of Folly: From Troy to Vietnam (Unabridged) [Audio Download]

by Barbara W. Tuchman (Author), Wanda McCaddon (Narrator)
3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
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Product details

  • Audio Download
  • Listening Length: 17 hours and 51 minutes
  • Program Type: Audiobook
  • Version: Unabridged
  • Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.
  • Audible Release Date: 19 Aug 2009
  • Language: English
  • ASIN: B002SQBBCU
  • Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)

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Product Description

In The March of Folly, two-time Pulitzer Prize winning historian Barbara Tuchman tackles the pervasive presence of folly in governments through the ages. Defining folly as the pursuit by governments of policies contrary to their own interests, 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 listener.

©1984 Barbara Tuchman; (P)2009 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
By Peter Buckley VINE™ VOICE
Format:Paperback
I read this book with great interest, not simply as a history book, but as describing an aspect of mankind familiar to all, the ability to act in a way contrary to any possible self-interest. If you define wisdom as `the exercise of judgement acting on experience, common sense and available information', it is clear we often behave in the opposite fashion, and Barbara Tuchman identifies this trait, folly, with the characteristic rejection of reason, as all too common in government policy and elsewhere today. She quotes Plato, `when desire disagrees with the judgement of reason, there is a disease of the soul, and when the soul is opposed knowledge..that I call folly'.
The three historical examples she explores in detail are, the Renaissance popes provoking the Protestant secession, the American War of Independence, and the Vietnam War. Each of these accounts, is, in my view, the work of a mature, reflective historian, not simply recounting facts, or dry history, but discerning lessons and meaning for us, in the light of `those who cannot learn from the past are condemned to repeat it' (George Santayana).
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16 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Lessons for our times 14 Jan 2005
Format:Paperback
This is a really important work about how societies can screw up. It details major examples of leaderships who despite all evidence to the contrary, take decisions that go against their own self interest. Tuchman starts with several small examples of leaders making bad decisions, focussing on the Trojan decision to bring the Greek horse inside the walls instead of leaving it to bake on the shore, or burning it--both viable options. Tuchman explores the reasons why the Trojans did the riskiest thing they could, including ignoring the evidence, fooling themselves, believing in their own superiority, and their fatedness to win through.

She then shows how modern societies are capable of similar follies. The chapters on how the United States betrayed itself in Viet Nam is particularly pertinent today as the country entagles itself in Iraq.

This is not a perfect book in that it does not offer prescriptions to avoid bad decision-making. But there is a great deal to be learned from it, and that I think is the great contribution she makes, she doesn't just tell us what happened, but helps us to see and avoid the pitfalls we may face. I highly recommend it.

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20 of 44 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I read this book (or tried to), having just finished Tuchmans "Guns of August", which is I believe the best book ever written on World War I.

This book is desperately disappointing.

Firstly, the manner is less enthusiastic, and more detached - presumably, a change in personality 20 years after the Guns of August and due to old age.

Secondly, the interweaving of comment and fact is both poorly delivered and awkward. There is no drive to the prose, which is classic "grandstanding".

Thirdly, the topic itself is not sufficient to hold interest longer than a magazine article, and with today's shorter attention span, inevitably, is of less interest.

I would not recommend this book - read Tuchman at her younger, brilliant best in Guns of August. This ones a distant echo.

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