The Years of Lyndon Johnson: Means of ascent

The second volume of Robert A. Caro's remarkable four-part biography of Lyndon Johnson In Means of Ascent, the Pulitzer award-wining historian carries Johnson through his service in World War II and the foundation and the myths of his long-concealed fortune. The explosive heart of the book is Caro's revelation of the true story of the fiercely contested 1948 senatorial election, which Johnson won with the the '87 votes that changed history'. Caro makes us witness to a momentous turning point in American politics: the tragic last stand of the old politics versus the new. Extraordinarily edifying, Means of Ascent is one of the richest, most intensive and most revealing examinations ever undertaken of an American President. 'Like its predecessor this is a wonderfully detailed, magnificently readable study that gives us not only Johnson's character but also a vivid picture of America in the 1940's' Literary Review