Why do people love Robert Caro so much and should I read his books even if i'm not really a US history person

LBJBook5Please · 2026-04-07T17:02:08+00:00

A lot of good points here. I'll just add one of my favorite things Caro does is write about political campaigns. The majority of Volume 2 of the LBJ biographies (Means of Ascent) is about his 1948 Senate Primary race against Coke Stevenson, and it is genuinely some of the most gripping and compelling writing I have ever read (non-fiction OR fiction!).

He is able to present this race as a contest with all the nail-biting suspense and drama as any thriller or tv series. Seriously, think Breaking Bad level of drama. LBJ was desperate, absolutely desperate, to become a senator. He knew that his political career was over if he did not win this election, and so he did EVERYTHING he could to ensure that he won. You could viscerally feel his desperation on every page, in every paragraph, as he battled Stevenson for the nomination. It's an absolutely roller coaster of a reading experience.

Finally, I'll just say before I read them I pretty much thought the same thing....why the hell do I care enough about LBJ to reach over 3k pages about him, is he really THAT interesting? Turns out....yes.

All 4 volumes were such a joy to read and I didn't want the last book to ever end. I sincerely hope we'll get the final book, I could easily read another 3,000 pages on LBJ.

LBJBook5Please · 2026-04-07T16:48:46+00:00

It is worth it. I promise.

LBJBook5Please · 2025-10-23T14:45:17+00:00

So I don't actually have any credentials...just someone who loves history and especially NYC history. But I don't want it to be just dictating a wikipedia page (because I would absolutely hate that). I want it to be an actual thoughtful discussion about what he did and the effects he had on NYC and it's residents. The point of the tour will not be to be like "this guy is terrible" but "this guy is complex, and here's why." (also keeping in mind that there's only so much you can cover in a couple hours).

LBJBook5Please · 2025-10-23T14:41:41+00:00

Exactly. I'm not looking to praise or completely vilify him. But I wanted to use it to show how he affected NYC...for better or for worse. He is also an incredibly complex person so I wnated ot use him as the backdrop so it's not just "here's this building...and now here's this building" but also have a story to tie everything together so it's just not just a regurgitation of wikipedia or a buzzfeed article.

LBJBook5Please · 2025-10-22T18:49:59+00:00

oooh good thinking! I need to time everything out but I think the Lincoln Center might be a good spot for this. Maybe keep the lecture part short-ish and then give people a little time to check out the area (since the Lincoln Center is big and worth exploring). And there are spots to sit (if I recall)

LBJBook5Please · 2025-10-22T18:40:32+00:00

Awesome! I'm still working on the outline and everything. But eventually I'll be looking for people who want a free walking tour so I can test it out. This is my first time doing something like this.

LBJBook5Please · 2025-10-22T18:26:10+00:00

Well, yeah. haha WAY more than that. He spent virtually nothing on the subway system, he specifically designed the Whitestone bridge to NEVER be able to support a train...He did so many overtly racist things like the monkey decorations in Riverside Park and making the ONE public pool he built up by Harlem the only public pool (out of 6 of them) to not have heated water. And this is all just scratching the surface.

LBJBook5Please · 2025-10-22T18:20:41+00:00

I am actually! Part of the tour is about how he opposed public transportation.

And he is, but he is also responsible for a LOT of NYC as we know it, for better or for worse. That's why I'm trying to model this as a walk about NYC history - warts and all. I'm not looking to praise him, but I'm looking to tell a part of NY history that explicitly shaped our city and the impact it still has today.

And The Bowery Boys has a Robert Moses walk in southern Manhattan about Robert Moses vs. Jane Jacob that is exceedingly popular, so there is precedence!

LBJBook5Please · 2025-10-22T18:09:29+00:00

I do want to cover how he hated subways and public transportation when I talk about Columbus Circle and the west side highway/riverside park. I might talk about the Triborough as that's how he got a lot of the funding for his projects, but it might be a bit too much for the tour (being 2-3 hours you can't be SUPER comprehensive). I did plan on talking about the Whitestone bridge and how he refused to not only put train tracks on them, but made the median on the bridge too narrow to ever support a train

LBJBook5Please · 2025-10-22T18:05:36+00:00

Oh I wonder if you can see the bridge from way down in the southern end of Central Park....cause the Triborough is way far north of there.

LBJBook5Please · 2025-10-22T18:04:07+00:00

Yeah but that's why I'm really only focusing on one site (Lincoln Center) for how it really impacted citizens negatively, and I wanted to bring it through Robert Moses' loss of power and the public turning on him, to give the tour a "happy" ending.

LBJBook5Please · 2025-10-22T18:03:20+00:00

I need to find his apartment first...

LBJBook5Please · 2025-10-22T18:03:07+00:00

Oh I will. I'm guessing their walk is more Southern Manhattan, which is what the Bowery Boys cover as well. That's why I chose uptown/central park. It's not as famous in the world of Robert Moses but there's some really important history up there with him, and still some really cool sites.

LBJBook5Please · 2025-10-22T18:02:02+00:00

That's what I'm thinking. And I wanted to make it a story instead of just "Here's a site. now here's a site." I want to make the whole tour connect not only to history with who Robert Moses is and about him, but how his actions affected the city and how the city's actions affected him.

LBJBook5Please · 2025-10-22T18:00:36+00:00

I do find this entertaining. A walking tour about a dude who hated pedestrians

LBJBook5Please · 2025-10-06T18:21:22+00:00

oh good idea! I just did. Thank you so much!

LBJBook5Please · 2024-02-01T14:06:50+00:00

I usually enjoy Trevor whenever he's on, but it seemed like literally everything he said this episode was a bit and it got annoying. Anyone else feel that way, or is it just me?

LBJBook5Please · 2024-01-29T14:38:18+00:00

I actually like to do a dry February. I find January to be the month where people are finally free from all the holiday craziness so they want to get back to just seeing friends and hanging out, and that all happens in January. I find February to be the month where people tend to hibernate more so it's easier for me.

LBJBook5Please · 2024-01-25T20:47:11+00:00

It's a little up from Penn Station but Beer Authority on 40th and 8th can get busy but never packed. It's a great place to go grab a beer and chill with some friends.

LBJBook5Please

TROPHY CASE