‘Working’ is the quintessential biographer's instruction manual

For the third volume of his Lyndon Johnson biography, Robert A. Caro wanted to show the future president’s unmatched skill as leader of the United States Senate. To do that, Caro zeroed in on Johnson’s successful campaign to pass a Civil Rights bill, a measure that won approval in 1957 only because of Johnson’s dogged determination and furious politicking.

Caro has approached all of his writing with an emphasis on showing how political power is accumulated and wielded while also documenting how that power affects everyday people.