The second book in a projected four-volume life of Lyndon Baines Johnson by Robert Caro (the fourth and final volume--the Johnson presidency--is due out, according to Caro, in 2013 or '14). Arguably the finest American political biography ever written, Caro gives an unstinting portrait of a man who could have been one of America's greatest presidents...if not for Viet Nam.

LBJ emerges from these pages as one of the most ruthless, insecure, and amoral individuals ever to hold the presidency, and also one of the most effective legislators ever, particularly in the Senate. Oddly, it is his flaws, the aforementioned ruthlessness, insecurity, and amorality, that made him so extraordinary and so effective. Tragically, they also brought about his downfall, as he dragged America deeper into the political, social, and military morass of Viet Nam.

This volume details Johnson's rise in the House, his years in the "Wilderness" after being defeated in his first run for the US Senate, and his election to the Senate. Fine portrait of Texas politics in the '40s and '50s with as corrupt a cast of characters ever seen outside of Huey Long's Louisiana.

Absolutely first-rate writing and research make this a "can't-put-down" read--something that's true of all three of the current volumes [The Path to Power (vol. 1), and Master of the Senate (vol. 3)].