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This biography of LBJ casts him in a very favorable light, maybe a little too favorable. LBJ is portrayed as an extremely compassionate man, and though he could be very compassionate, he usually worked in his own best interests. Woods doesn't always recognize the pragmatism. LBJ was a complicated individual, and he seems a bit flat toward the end of the book, when he is portrayed as whiny and upset much of the time.

It's a long book, and Woods seems to have gotten tired of writing well before the end. The section on the LBJ presidency was a bit too factual with a decided lack of analysis. Woods dutifully tells us about each of the Great Society programs... ticking off each one through a couple of late chapters. And Woods' account of the final part of LBJ's life, the five years after his presidency, is woefully lacking. Woods has completely run out of steam by the end of LBJ's life.

The earlier part of the book is much more lively. Woods does a good job with the young LBJ, his family and his start in politics. He's not bad as he follows LBJ through the House of Representatives and the Senate. The analysis is pretty good, but not always great, and Woods always gives LBJ's motives the benefit of the doubt (unlike many other LBJ biographers).

If you want to read a biography of LBJ that tells you about his whole life in just one volume, this isn't a bad way to go.