In the second volume, the author reveals some of the more extreme grotesqueries of American politics. For this is the time when Johnson created for himself a much exaggerated record as a war hero, when he and his wife Lady Bird made themselves rich by juggling radio station licences. And it is the time when Johnson fought for - and won, by 87 dubious votes - his first seat in the US Senate, in an election whose c orruption was legendary even by Texas standards.

Author Biography

Robert A. Caro has been described as 'the greatest political biographer of our times' (Sunday Times) and 'a world authority on the nature of power and how to use it' (Guardian). Born and raised in New York City, he graduated from Princeton University, later became a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University, and was an investigative reporter for Newsday for six years. His first book, The Power Broker, won the Pulitzer Prize in biography and the Frances Parkman Prize of the Society of American Historians. His subsequent books comprise a multi-volume work, The Years of Lyndon Johnson, 'regarded by many as the greatest political biography of the modern era' (The Times). Over the course of four volumes, he has become one of the most lauded writers of his generation, winning three National Book Critics Circle Awards, the National Book Award and a further Pulitzer Prize. He is currently at work on the fifth and final volume. In addition, Robert Caro has also been awarded virtually every other major literary honour, including the Gold Medal in Biography from the National Academy of Arts and Letters and the National Humanities Medal, awarded by President Barack Obama, the highest award in the humanities given in the United States. He lives in New York City with his wife, Ina, an historian and writer.