Michael Barone, a senior writer at U.S. News and World Report, is best known as a pundit and as the principal author of The Almanac of American Politics -- the essential reference book of American politics. But he is also a historian and his 1990 book Our Country is up there with William Manchester's The Glory and the Dream as one of the best surveys of mid-20th century America.

This week he writes about the lessons he thinks we should learn from The Candy Bombers. Along the way, he writes that:

The Berlin Airlift’s “tale of American expertise, ingenuity, and generosity is told vividly by Andrei Cherny in his wonderfully readable book The Candy Bombers.”

It's been interesting to see people from all sides of the political spectrum try to draw inspiration from this book. I think that's the role of history: it doesn't provide clear answers but can hopefully shed some light on the present and future.

UPDATE: Looks like U.S. News and World Report is having some site issues. Barone's column can also be found here.