Slow going at points, but sweeping and insightful.

"Intervention is a presidential choice, not an inevitability." Makes a strong argument that Kennedy would not have escalated the war in Vietnam.

If nothing else, this book does a good job of representing how hard it is to make major organizational changes.

Jim Collins is a good writer who has obviously thought a lot about what makes a company successful. He makes some solid points about characteristics of a good company - focus, discipline, etc. I wouldn't say there's a formula in this book, but it's got a bunch of good case studies and profiles and generally contains a lot of wisdom.