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Here's a book I'd like to read this summer

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  1. James FergusonFebruary 16, 2012 at 11:15 PM

    I've long been tempted in the Caro series on Johnson myself, but still haven't gotten around to reading The Power Broker on Robert Moses.

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  2. avrdsFebruary 17, 2012 at 1:08 AM

    They are some of the best biographies I've ever read -- and I have no interest in Johnson otherwise.

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  3. TripplerFebruary 17, 2012 at 3:08 AM

    760 pages! I'd love to read it here but it isn't the size of the book that worries me. It's the size of the print in such a large tome.

    If the print is good sized then you can count on me to join with the group. That is, after all, a fascinating topic.

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  4. avrdsFebruary 17, 2012 at 4:49 AM

    Wow! I didn't notice that. But he is an amazing writer. And Johnson, through his eyes, a fascinating subject. I've already put an order in for it so will let you know about the font size.

    Trippler, sounds like we need to get you a kindle. I'm not big on electronic books, but that way you can make the font size larger. If this is one of those books with tiny print crammed into 760 pages, I may need one, too!

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  5. avrdsFebruary 17, 2012 at 4:51 AM

    Since libraries now "lend out" electronic books, I wonder if they might also lend out the readers? Be worth asking.

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  6. James FergusonFebruary 17, 2012 at 10:25 AM

    I see I was confusing this book with the first in the series, Path to Power. I suppose you can pick up the series at any point. Pretty amazing that Caro has now devoted five books to Johnson.

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  7. avrdsFebruary 17, 2012 at 3:46 PM

    And from what I can tell, this isn't even the last one ... although that would be hard to believe.

    Sometime in the 1990s, I was looking for something good to read and the bookseller (bless the independent booksellers) suggested the 2nd in the series. I think that's where I started reading them. She also suggested the American Sphinx.

    After that I was hooked on reading history again.

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  8. JAbelFebruary 18, 2012 at 7:13 AM

    Robert loves these books which begs the question what is going on with Robert these days.

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  9. James FergusonFebruary 18, 2012 at 10:54 AM

    Johnson is a vastly underrated president. When you think that FDR didn't even have the guts to sign onto an anti-lynching bill for fear of losing Southern voters, Johnson deserves all the credit in the world for getting Civil Rights legislation passed in 1964, even if it opened the door to the South for Republicans, which Nixon, Reagan and others would fully exploit.

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  10. avrdsFebruary 18, 2012 at 5:47 PM

    Bo, my hope is that Robert might be on the mend by the time this book comes out that he won't be able to resist joining in with us.

    And yes, Gintaras, Caro makes it clear that Johnson was about as crooked as they come in those early years but my guess is this volume will bring out his best. I'm really looking forward to reading it when it becomes available.

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  11. James FergusonFebruary 18, 2012 at 6:38 PM

    I don't think anyone other than Johnson could have gotten the Civil Rights Bill through Congress, calling in favors like he did. Kennedy didn't have the stomach for domestic issues like this. From what I read he had to be pulled by his "Jimmy" to make a response to Wallace and his attempt to stop Vivian Malone and James Hood, from enrolling at U.A.

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  12. avrdsFebruary 18, 2012 at 7:02 PM

    Sounds like we have a good book to read this summer, and from the length sounds like it might take all summer to read!

    In the meantime, I've picked up American Nations again. The description of the founding of Jamestown is definitely worth the price of the book. It might be a fun one to read together.

    You can preview it at google (if this link doesn't work, put in the chapter title "founding tidewater"):

    http://books.google.com/books?id=Sb40EosBr90C&printsec=frontcover&dq=american+nations&hl=en&sa=X&ei=0tg_T6K5MeW0iQLirdyoAQ&ved=0CEIQuwUwAg#v=snippet&q=founding%20tidewater&f=false

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  13. MartiFebruary 18, 2012 at 10:45 PM

    I have these books. The only one I read completely was Master of the Senate. That was how I discovered the NY Times history book group. After that I bought the two earlier books.

    I do almost all of my book reading on e-readers now.

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  14. MartiFebruary 21, 2012 at 6:16 AM

    I have Charlie Rose on (10 min. into it). He has presidential historians/biographers on, including ROBERT CARO. They are so far talking about President Obama. Jim Fallows has an article in The Atlantic about Obama. Fallows, Jon Meacham, Michael Beschloss, Doris Kearns Goodwin are also on.

    I don't have a link handy, but if you are interested and missing it, I'm sure it will be available on Charlie Rose's website. It's the 2/20/12 show (President's Day).

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  15. James FergusonFebruary 21, 2012 at 7:01 AM

    Sounds like a great series, Marti. I catch Rose on Bloomberg Channel.

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