Politicians of every stripe frequently invoke the Marshall Plan

in support of programs aimed at using American wealth to extend the nation's power and influence, solve intractable third-world economic problems, and combat world hunger and disease. Do any of these impassioned advocates understand why the Marshall Plan succeeded where so many subsequent aid plans have not?

Historian Nicolaus Mills explores the Marshall Plan

in all its dimensions to provide valuable lessons from the past about what America can and cannot do as a superpower.