# The Years of Lyndon Johnson by Robert Caro

6 Hacker News commenters recommended The Years of Lyndon Johnson by Robert Caro and 0 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 5 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** People recommend Robert Caro's multi-volume LBJ biography for its detailed account of how skill, subterfuge and manipulation shaped Johnson's career. The main caveat is that it is a long read.

## Why people recommend it

- Incredible, underrated multi-volume series (2 comments): "the LBJ series are incredible and underrated" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50233544)) "his LBJ series is phenomenal" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49916053))

## What people warn about

- Long, demanding undertaking to read (1 comments): "I really encourage interested folks to read the biography (though it's an undertaking)." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46715507))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [The Man from the Future by Ananyo Bhattacharya](https://hackerapproved.com/p/man-from-the-future.md): 9 recommend
- [Steve Jobs in Exile by Geoffrey Cain](https://hackerapproved.com/p/steve-jobs-in-exile.md): 7 recommend
- [Steve Jobs and the NeXT Big Thing by Randall Stross](https://hackerapproved.com/p/steve-jobs-and-the-next-big-thing.md): 7 recommend
- [The Infinity Machine by Sebastian Mallaby](https://hackerapproved.com/p/infinity-machine-demis-hassabis-deepmind-and-the-quest-for-superintelligence.md): 6 recommend
- [Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder](https://hackerapproved.com/p/mountains-beyond-mountains.md): 6 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0679729453?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9780679729457) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "The Years of Lyndon Johnson by Robert Caro", https://hackerapproved.com/p/years-of-lyndon-johnson/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).