Previous studies of the rise of Lyndon B. Johnson have concentrated on his ruthless careerism without giving him due credit for his political brilliance, his genuine concern for minorities and the repressed, and his role in fully integrating the South into modern America. Beginning with his early days in Texas, his progress from Representatives to Senate, and his role as Majority Leader under Eisenhower, this first volume in Robert Dallek's biography ends with his nomination as Vice-President in 1960. This balanced account presents the LBJ esteemed by the likes of Roosevelt and Kennedy.

About the Author
Robert Dallek is Professor of History of the University of California, Los Angeles. He is the author of several books, including Franklin D. Roosevelt and American Foreign Policy, for which he won a Bancroft Prize and was nominated for an American Book Award.

Reviews
'assimilates a huge mass of conflicting evidence on a large, controversial topic and writes a dispassionate history that makes sense of it without oversimplification or overgeneralization ... succeeds brilliantly ... should stand for a long time as the best scholarly life of Lyndon Johnson' LA Times
'Robert Dallek has now written the first volume of a scrupulously fair biography...LBJ was a distinctly unlovable scoundrel: he was needy, self-pitying, a bully, a mama's boy and a narcissist...He was also the man who did incomparably more to secure racial and social justice than any other American president. Dallek is as interested in the latter creature as in the former; it is a sad fact that this nowadays seems almost an antiquarian taste. Fredric Paul Smoler, The Observer
'In this first volume of what promises to be a magisterial two-part work, Robert Dallek once again emerges firmly on the defence side of the argument.' Anthony Howard, Sunday Times
'I know of few books which bring you closer to the nuts and bolts of American politics. Paul Johnson, Sunday Telegraph
'a meticulous researcher and equally good historian ... Dallek gets pretty close to a plausible analysis of the many contradictions in this most complex of politicians' Jurek Martin, Financial Times
'a striking example of devolutionary policy ... the sense of fairness is pervasive ... There is no concealment of the daemonic polecat aspects of Johnson.' Roy Jenkins, The Spectator
'a splendid first instalment of a two-volume biography of Lyndon Johnson ... It is a true scholarly work, based not only on an enviable mastery of primary and secondary published sources, but also on careful research in over a hundred manuscript collections and imaginative use of over 250 oral histories and interviews. Further, it is written in a crisp and compelling style which makes it a pleasure to read ... the authoritative academic study.' M.J. Heale, Lancaster University, American Studies, Vol. 26, Pt. 2



Book Information
ISBN 9780195054354
Author Robert Dallek
Format Hardback
Page Count 736
Imprint Oxford University Press
Publisher Oxford University Press
Weight(grams) 1268g
Dimensions(mm) 237mm * 165mm * 46mm