The Years of Lyndon Johnson: The Path to Power

By Robert Caro

I'd heard about how good Caro was for a long time but his work is intimidating. At first the subject matter seems dry—how could anyone do five books on Lyndon Johnson, and who would want to read that? All I can say is that this book set a new standard for me, and every bit of history or biography I've read since has paled in comparison.

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To call this book a biography would be underselling it. It's a portrait of not just the early life of a major historical figure, but of what it was like to come of age in America in that specific time and place. The thing is, the book's long, and it's only part one of an eventual five-part series. And it's not even the longest book in the series. The good news is that Caro can really write and I was captivated the whole way through. It's much easier to read history when the historian happens to be an outstanding author as well.

As I entered the final stretch of the book I could sense that it was ending soon and began to mourn its loss. You can only experience a book like this for the first time once.

Reference

Caro, R. A. (1982). The Path to Power: The Years of Lyndon Johnson I. United States: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.