Hailed as 'the greatest biography of our era' (The Times) this is the second part of Robert Caro's multi-award-winning best-selling work on American President Lyndon Johnson.

In Means of Ascent Robert Caro enters into the central narrative of Johnson's life, through his service in the Second World War and the foundation of his long-concealed fortune - as well as the facts behind the myths he created about them. But 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 '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.