Rating: 
Summary: Incredible!
Review: This is the third of (I believe)four books about the life of Lyndon B. Johnson. The amazing thing about these books is that they leave you fascinated by LBJ even though you end up abhorring the man. One leaves with a king of grudging admiration of his political ability even while you despise the methods he used. The book is great in how it summarizes the history of the Senate. One previous reviewer didn't like this but I think its a great start to the book to put the Senate in perspective. I can't wait for book four. I'm wondering what he will dredge up regarding LBJ's possible involvement with the Kennedy assasination!
Rating:
Summary: The Book of Revelations on the US Senate
Review: Aside from the story of Lyndon Johnson, which takes the reader through a range of emotions from admiration to repugnance, this is an eye opening look at the history and the internal machinations of America's only insular legislative body, insular in its unique protection from American majority opinion. From introduction to last page Mr. Caro crafts a highly readable and fascinating study of not only LBJ, but the American institution Johnson reshaped. The cast of characters all come to life on these pages. Bravo!
Rating:
Summary: A Primer on Political Power in a Democracy
Review: It's not often that one can depict a non-fiction book of over 1,000 pages, much of it about the intricacies of legislative decision-making in the United States Senate, as a page-turner. Yet Robert Caro, in this magisterial biography of Lyndon Johnson's 11-year Senate career, has achieved such a distinction. He does this by combining one overarching purpose--to show how LBJ's quest for power, his single ambition to become president, reveals itself during his Senate years----with a fiction writer's storytelling skills.The highlight of Johnson's Senate years came in 1957, when he shepherded, against almost insurmountable odds, passage of the first Federal civil rights bill since Reconstruction. The final bill was a greatly watered-down version of what was initially proposed and supported by liberals as well as Republican's looking to increase their share of the black vote. Johnson knew that majority support for a civil rights bill with any teeth meant little, since segregationist Southern Democrats would never let such a bill be voted on, using their time-honed practice of filibuster. So Part III of the law, outlawing segregation in public places, was removed, allowing only the voting rights section to remain. And even in the area of voting rights the inclusion of a jury trial amendment almost guaranteed limited enforcement in the south. But Johnson also recognized, as belatedly did much of the rest of the country, that however small a step the approved bill was, it was nevertheless a milestone-signifying that the southern Democrats hold on power could be broken. It also changed the perception of LBJ from a mouthpiece for Southern Democrats to a national politician who could break out of the mold of an archetypical southern segregationist to garner enough support to one day become president. I recommend this book highly to anyone interested in the nature of political power in our democratic system-how it can be used to both corrupt but also to achieve positive change in our society.
Rating: 
Summary: Caro's weakest book....
Review: Like many others, I have read everything by Caro. Path to Power, the first part of the Johnson biography, I regard as the best book i have ever read. Others do too - William Hague, the former leader of the Conservative Party in Britain said so too. Therefore Master of the Senate has a lot to live up to. Sadly it doesn't come close. Here's the flaws I see: 1. The long introductory section on the Senate is workaday stuff and not necessary. Johnson himself does not appear until after page 100, and even then Caro is still summarising the story so far.
2. Far too much emphasis is laid on the 1958 Civil Rights Act. Chapter after chapter is spent building up to one bill, and then Caro glosses over 1958-1960 in a few pages.
3. I think he also mis-interprets the 1958 bill. We find out afterwards that Johnson presided over a number of other civil rights bill in 58/59, some of which contradicted and over-wrote the 58 legislation.
4. Caro's editors have over-indulged him. The book could have done with a good pruning in places. This would have been an excellent 700 pager. Instead we get 1200 pages about just a few years in Johnson's life. Three tomes in, and we still haven't got to the 1960 convention. Going at the same pace, the last book will have to be over 2,000 pages. It's not all negative. This is the definitive Johnson biography and we are watching one of the world's greatest biographers at work. I just think the project has come a little off the rails here and Master of the Senate will never be held in the same regard as its two predecessors. Let's hope Caro can somehow round off this magnum opus with a fitting Volume 4.
Rating:
Summary: More than just a Pulitzer
Review: I said it about "The Power Broker", and my comments hold true to the LBJ series. Robert Caro's biographical works are voluminous, but he is a spellbinding storyteller and consummate historian -- all of which leaves the reader wanting more!
Several reviewers claim that the exact same detailed exposition which they found so interesting in the first or second volume of LBJ is repetitive and cumbersome in this third volume. Well -- that's Caro's professional approach to demonstrating the etiology of his subject's acquisition and utilization of power.
Caro's personal excitement and wonder of the personal journey of discovery is evident to the reader. His thorough and meticulous research (with his bride Ina's able assistance) enables him to weave apparent isolated insignificance into a cohesive study of his subject's psychological formation and its effect upon the subject's gaining and wielding of power. That is not to say reader's won't differ in their ethical interpretations of its use, because you can tell by other reviews that they do.
This same rigorous, precise and professional methodology has been applied to his first three (of four intended) volumes of LBJ's biography - leaving the reader anxiously awaiting the study's capstone volume. (I personally don't understand the frustration vented by some reviewers on the length of time between volumes. Caro doesn't have a university/think-tank/news bureau, etc., setting with a multitude of research assistants -- which I happen to believe keeps his works pristine relative to many other historians who have relied too heavily upon such "assistance". So, I'm fine with waiting for the depth of understanding, accuracy of fact and quality of writing exhibited so far).
With the wordcraft precision of a Lincoln, historical accuracy of Will & Ariel Durant and the captivating storyline of a Dickens, Caro is, I believe, one of the finest living biographers and superb writer.
So --- don't let volume put you off! Good things may come in small packages -- but -- just occasionally -- GREAT things come in big ones!
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding- A must Read
Review: Robert Caro is the Master Historian and premier journalistic investagator. For those interested in the most important subject one can take in school- History, Master of the Senate is a must read. In Caro's capable albeit brilliant hands, the story of Lyndon Johnson in the Senate of the United States comes to life like no other I have read before. And the major question I derived from this monumental work was whether Senator Johnson was a bigot, ambitious and soley out for power for power's sake, or was stiving for something more, something more noble. Perhaps he drove himself like a zealot to gain the necessary power he so craved in order to do that which he has always urned to do- namely help out the downtrodden and oppressed in American society. The old adage does seem to apply here but with a twist- Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutly, but in LBJ's case as Caro often times states it is more likely the while power corrupts absolute power "reveals".
Rating: 
Summary: Fantastic, but....
Review: A powerful and entertaining biography of a section of LBJ's life and a good insight into how the Senate works. Caro appears to be an excellent biographer and his passion for his subject is very evident. Stephen Lang is excellent as the narrator and he captures the vocal energy and mannerisms of LBJ, Humphrey, Russell and a chorus of others. All that said, I heard the abridged version from Audible, and was disappointed with what was apparently left out. Having read Dalleck and heard the LBJ tapes that Beschloss produced, I know the editor could have done a better job capturing LBJ's personality and drive. Still, as it is an abridged version, such a comment is highly subjective, and overall I highly recommend this for those interested in LBJ, recent American history, and/or inner workings of Congress.
Rating:
Summary: The ruthless power broker
Review: Before I begin, I must admit I am a Robert Caro fan. I was hooked after I read his work on Robert Moses, the Power Broker. This is my third Caro work (second on Johnson) and, in age comes wisdom, so I listened to this one. Caro's books are extremely well researched and well written, but make for a long read so, before you plunge into this, make sure you set out a block of time or do what I did and listen to it. Audible.com has a great subscription program which I just joined and listening to books is a great way to enjoy more reading then time really allows. If you enjoy politics, you will enjoy the detail provided and I would recommend reading this one. In the Master of the Senate, Caro takes the reader (or listener in my case) through Johnsons' careful, calculating cultivation of Rayburn, Russell and Roosevelt to establish his roots for later advancement to power in the Senate. After convincing the older leadership of the three branches of government that he viewed them each like a mentor/father, according to Caro, Johnson goes to work to increase his power. Caro takes the reader through little events that show just how ruthless Johnson was in obtaining power. Caro tells us how Johnson, for example, would corner other Senators and, if he couldn't persuade him with reason, how he would bully the individual into seeing Johnson's way. The most interesting part of the book, however, is how Johnson was able to broker a deal between the strong sothern Senate block and the northern liberal block on civil rights. Given Johnson's 20 year recod of voting against civil rights and his ruthless attitude toward winning at all costs, Johnson's civil rights battle was clearly a political play at a time when pressure was mounting in the United States for action. Johnson's early cultivation of Russell was really the linchpin to his success on this issue. Russell, a staunch and stong advocate against civil rights was convinced, by his trustworthy "son", this was the right thing to do. The way Caro leads the reader up to this ultimate deal is really interesting and a fascinating work on political science in American history. I give it a four only because it is so long, not because it is less than a great read.
Rating:
Summary: just another pawn....
Review: Caro's work is stunningly revealing! But its only a microcosm of Quigleys "Tragedy and Hope". Also Caro fans should look into the author Solomon Tulbures antics especially the manifesto. It is quite the eye opener in relation to Caro and Quigleys works.
Rating:
Summary: Yawn! A windy, overblown biography
Review: I got "hooked" on Robert A. Caro's LBJ saga when the first book, "Path to Power," came out -- TWELVE years ago. An interesting read at the time, and it was supposed to be a three-parter. I expected that the entire story -- through the Presidency -- to have been told by now. So, what do we get? One-thousand fourty pages on LBJ's SENATE years, and I'm still waiting for a book on LBJs presidency. Again, I am "hooked" because I started on the first one. It's like being pulled into a soap opera that you just must watch to find out how it ends. Caro obviously put in a lot of work and research, but -- COME ON. How much of this detail was necessary? I just hope Caro, and I, live long enough to find out how the saga ends. I want this story to be buried once and for all, just like LBJ. As for "Master of the Senate," the only way I got through it is to skim and speed read. I have other books to read. This saga needs "cloture."
p.s. (added November 18, 2003)
Now that the 40th Anniversary of JFK's assasination is upon us -- when are we going to get Caro's answer to the BIG question: Did LBJ have JFK bumped off???? I'M WAITING......
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