I agree he wasn't a brilliant writer but a great storyteller.
I thought his book about the reconstruction of Germany after WW2 should have been required reading for Bush and Blair as it showed that it was possible to have pre-planned for the aftermath of war and have teams (legal, police, public works, civil service)ready to go in once the fighting had stopped and get the infrastructure running again.
But then, it didn't have any pictures...
RtS