If Tooze’s review is “worth reading”, Toussaint’s critique is absolutely indispensible to an understanding of the debacle and Varoufakis’ contribution to it, including his surprising (to me at least) close ties to the conservative Greek political and economic establishment.
The six part review is a thorough refutation of the line held by some on the Marxist left at the time that Syriza had no alternative but to bow to the troika and accept continued harsh austerity. Toussaint, who on behalf of the Committee for the Abolition of Illegitimate Debt was an active participant in the process, shows otherwise.
I don’t think MR Online has the entirety of Toussaint’s lengthy account but you can read it on the Committee’s site, beginning here:
http://www.cadtm.org/Yanis-Varoufakis-s-Account-of-the
Part six has just been published here:
http://www.cadtm.org/Varoufakis-Tsipras-move-towards
> On Feb 22, 2018, at 11:48 AM, Marv Gandall <marvgand2 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Worth reading in the latest New York Review of Books - economic historian Adam Tooze on Yanis Varoufakis’ account of Syriza’s capitulation to the troika.
>
> As Tooze notes, “it was clear that the creditors had no intention of making the least concession. Why did the Greek government not simply walk away?
>
> “Why did it stay at the table in a doomed attempt to reason with the Eurogroup?
>
> “Given his identification with the left, Varoufakis is haunted by these questions.
>
> “It is the struggle to answer them that makes his frank memoir not only engrossing but an important contribution to the library of modern politics, as a case study in the limits of radicalism and the forces that hold the status quo in place.”
>
> http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2018/03/08/yanis-varoufakis-modern-greek-tragedy/?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=NYR%20Varoufakis%20Carrington%20Black%20Panther&utm_content=NYR%20Varoufakis%20Carrington%20Black%20Panther+CID_caf75038ff25213c0caf63226b4f932a&utm_source=Newsletter&utm_term=A%20Modern%20Greek%20Tragedy
>