The narrative focuses almost exclusively on LBJ’s political life and the public world in which he operated. Once the biography turns to Johnson, it rarely lets go. But as informative as this 100+ page preamble proves, it eventually overstays its welcome and needlessly delays LBJ’s appearance in the narrative. The first half of this introductory section is so stirring and descriptive that I read it twice to ensure I didn’t miss anything. This third volume begins with a lengthy but often engrossing history of the United States Senate. But while the primary story line itself is inherently fascinating, protracted digressions and diversions are common. And like preceding volumes, “Master of the Senate” is supported by painstaking research and an ability to dive deeply and thoughtfully into a topic. Sentences are frequently complex but incorporate profound observations. And while books in this series are designed to stand on their own (for anyone interested in just one part of LBJ’s life) this volume is most compelling for readers tackling the entire series.įans of Caro’s series will quickly recognize his writing style: it is articulate but often long-winded. With 1,040 pages, this is the longest of the four volumes which have been published to date. Published in 2002, “Master of the Senate” covers Johnson’s life from 1949 through 1960 – the dozen years he spent in the U.S. He is currently working on the fifth (and presumably final) volume in his LBJ series. Caro is a former investigative reporter and the author of another Pulitzer Prize-winning biography: “ The Power Broker” reviewing the life of Robert Moses.
Caro shows how Johnson's brilliance, charm and ruthlessness enabled him to become the youngest and most powerful Majority Leader in history and how he used his incomparable legislative genius - seducing both Northern liberals and Southern conservatives - to pass the first Civil Rights legislation since Reconstruction.“ Master of the Senate: The Years of Lyndon Johnson” is the Pulitzer Prize-winning third volume in Robert Caro’s series covering the life of Lyndon B. Once the most august and revered body in politics, by the time Johnson arrived the Senate had become a parody of itself and an obstacle that for decades had blocked desperately needed liberal legislation. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, Master of the Senate takes Johnson's story through one of its most remarkable periods: his twelve years, from 1949 to 1960, in the United States Senate. Caro's legendary, multi-award-winning biography of US President Lyndon Johnson is a uniquely riveting and revelatory account of power, political genius and the shaping of twentieth-century America. Essential reading for those who want to comprehend power and politics ' The Times
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