5 ms·

Be careful with the LBJ series. It will absolutely ruin all other biographies for you. You will become intolerant to other authors’ lack of detail.

MOARDONGZPLZ 2y ago
Not to mention (though I am), awaiting the last installment!
- misiti3780 2y ago
  Me too, Robert Gottlieb died in 2022, hopefully the last book gets finished and is as good.
misiti3780 2y ago
It's incredible how good those books are, and I genuinely feel sorry for anyone who hasn't experienced them. I read them over two years ago and still remember many details as if I read them yesterday. This is quite rare for me, given how much I read. Strangely, I didn’t have the same experience with "The Power Broker." Ever since finishing them, I have been on the hunt for historical biographies of similar quality. While I haven't found any that match up completely, here are a few that come close in my opinion: * Truman by David McCullough * Grant by Ron Chernow * American Caesar by William Manchester I've also read the three-part Churchill series by Manchester, but it didn’t quite measure up to the LBJ series for me. If you have any other suggestions, please share them! My brother in law loves Vonnegut, I read all of his books also. Personally, I don't understand the appeal
- pjmorris 2y ago
  I loved the Manchester series on Churchill. The others you mention are all on the 'to read' list for me already. My favorite recent biography was on both JCR Licklider and the world he helped create; 'The Dream Machine', Waldrop. Even more abstract, 'The Prize', Yergin, might be called a biography of the oil industry and 'The Making of the Atomic Bomb' is a biograpy of that dread beast. Those were my favorite books before starting Caro.
  - misiti3780 2y ago
    The Dream Machine and The Prize are on my kindle. I really enjoyed The Making of the Atomic Bomb also!
- BigParm 2y ago
  If you like history, have you read "From the Founding of the City"? It's slow to start as the Romans fight the same Veientes a hundred times over, but when it's good, it's really good. The stories are historic so there are realistic lessons in them. It's interesting as a working class person to read how the plebs were able to take some power from the owning class, for example. The battles are tactical. The heroes are epic. The highs are very high and the lows very low. Anyways it was preserved on paper 2000 years for a reason. It's unbelievably good.
  - misiti3780 2y ago
    Nope, but i just bought it. Thank you!
vr46 2y ago
+1 for Taylor Branch’s three-volume biography of the Martin Luther King years, outstanding.

MOARDONGZPLZ 2y ago

Not to mention (though I am), awaiting the last installment!

misiti3780 2y ago
Me too, Robert Gottlieb died in 2022, hopefully the last book gets finished and is as good.

misiti3780 2y ago

It's incredible how good those books are, and I genuinely feel sorry for anyone who hasn't experienced them. I read them over two years ago and still remember many details as if I read them yesterday. This is quite rare for me, given how much I read. Strangely, I didn’t have the same experience with "The Power Broker." Ever since finishing them, I have been on the hunt for historical biographies of similar quality. While I haven't found any that match up completely, here are a few that come close in my opinion: * Truman by David McCullough * Grant by Ron Chernow * American Caesar by William Manchester I've also read the three-part Churchill series by Manchester, but it didn’t quite measure up to the LBJ series for me. If you have any other suggestions, please share them! My brother in law loves Vonnegut, I read all of his books also. Personally, I don't understand the appeal

pjmorris 2y ago
I loved the Manchester series on Churchill. The others you mention are all on the 'to read' list for me already. My favorite recent biography was on both JCR Licklider and the world he helped create; 'The Dream Machine', Waldrop. Even more abstract, 'The Prize', Yergin, might be called a biography of the oil industry and 'The Making of the Atomic Bomb' is a biograpy of that dread beast. Those were my favorite books before starting Caro.
- misiti3780 2y ago
  The Dream Machine and The Prize are on my kindle. I really enjoyed The Making of the Atomic Bomb also!
BigParm 2y ago
If you like history, have you read "From the Founding of the City"? It's slow to start as the Romans fight the same Veientes a hundred times over, but when it's good, it's really good. The stories are historic so there are realistic lessons in them. It's interesting as a working class person to read how the plebs were able to take some power from the owning class, for example. The battles are tactical. The heroes are epic. The highs are very high and the lows very low. Anyways it was preserved on paper 2000 years for a reason. It's unbelievably good.
- misiti3780 2y ago
  Nope, but i just bought it. Thank you!

vr46 2y ago

+1 for Taylor Branch’s three-volume biography of the Martin Luther King years, outstanding.