
The March of Folly
From Troy to Vietnam
Failed to add items
Sorry, we are unable to add the item because your shopping cart is already at capacity.
Add to Cart failed.
Please try again later
Add to Wish List failed.
Please try again later
Remove from wishlist failed.
Please try again later
Adding to library failed
Please try again
Follow podcast failed
Please try again
Unfollow podcast failed
Please try again
LIMITED TIME OFFER
3 months free
Offer ends July 31, 2025 at 11:59PM PT.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 3 months. Cancel anytime.
Buy for $24.04
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use, License, and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
-
Narrated by:
-
Wanda McCaddon
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.Listeners also enjoyed...




















Critic reviews
"Among contemporary historians, Barbara Tuchman stands supreme." ( Times of London)
"Admirers of her earlier works will find Barbara Tuchman's familiar virtues on display. She is lucid, painstaking and highly intelligent. She is also highly expert." ( Sunday Times, London)
"Admirers of her earlier works will find Barbara Tuchman's familiar virtues on display. She is lucid, painstaking and highly intelligent. She is also highly expert." ( Sunday Times, London)
People who viewed this also viewed...


















This book is a true classic of history
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
For History Lovers
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Excellent
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
interesting conception, uninteresting execution.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
As with any Tuchman book, her writing is brilliant; articulate, witty, and kept me captivated throughout.
Wanda McCaddon's reading is superb, capturing Tuchman's wonderful writing style perfectly - at least as perfectly as an Brit can capture an American's "voice".
The Insightful Ms. Tuchman
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
First, the book was published in 1984 - 27 years prior to my reading it. The content of the book - the dissection of epic failures of leadership in history - is still as compelling as ever. For example, upon listening to the account of King Montezuma's approach to marauding Spaniards drew an immediate parallel to me of the way in which US President Obama has deigned to handle disputes with Congressional Republicans who've publicly stated their primary goal as being the destruction of the President at all costs.
Many lessons in history are prescient and almost all of Ms. Tuchman's eclectic selection of stories (I don't understand why Troy is included though, as it's, as the author essentially admits, more mythology than history) from history are indeed excellent studies for all leaders - regardless of whether leading in politics, business, local groups, classrooms.
Second, the detail of the accounts are scrupulously laid out and points are painstakingly substantiated. Of course, audio books don't have the luxury of a bibliography to review, but for a few reasons, I'm convinced Ms. Tuchman's accuracy is beyond reproach.
On the down side, the narrator is utterly infuriating. I'm in the US and the narrator is from the UK. I've worked with folks from and have been to the UK. I've always found the Queen's English to be quite pleasant. But until this narrator, I've never spoken with any British person who spoke just like Elmer Fudd.
Maybe I'm just too intolerant, but "heawing of the tehwwible results of" this speech affect forced me to take this book only in small doses. And at 17+ hours, it made the consumption of the work a long and sometimes painful process.
Last, the book's theme. The introduction's torturous defining of "folly" and the conclusion's ham-fisted effort to mash these tales of failed leadership (which IS it's actual theme) together under that definition is awkward at best.
Skip Intro and Epilogue, Enjoy the Yummy Center
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The Not Too Long March
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
USA Citizen required reading
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Very Interesting Take
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
It did a great job at keeping me interested and engaged all the way through. The March of Folly is a great book to learn about the errors of leaders with great unchecked power.
Interesting and perspective broadening
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.