Listening-in to history being made

This is an amazing experience, listening to conversations, as they happened, between giants of history like LBJ, Martin Luther King, Eisenhower, Jacqueline & Bobby Kennedy. This contrasts with informally and chatty nature of what is said, most of the time.

This is where an audiobook comes into its own and makes it compulsive in a way not possible in the usual book format.

Nearly the entire book consists of actual recordings from LBJ's tapes. Beschloss does an excellent job though, as a narrator, linking the recordings together to make a coherent whole.

What makes this book all the more riveting is the range of topics covered. LBJ throws himself into everything from the civil rights struggle to Vietnam and even advises his wife and daughters about getting getting their hair done and putting lipstick on before having a walk on the White House lawn.

It was a revelation to me that LBJ appeared to seriously consider not standing for the presidency in 1964, due to the civil rights issue.

It comes through strongly how good LBJ was at managing people. He shows a deft touch in his conversations with Bobby Kennedy, not as brash as he's made out to be by some.

Altogether fascinating history as though it's happening now in all its freshness.

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Insight into presidential communications

Would you consider the audio edition of Taking Charge to be better than the print version?

The audio version is a must as you get an added insight into tone and emotion that you can't get with print.

Only problem is it is rather hard to understand the beginning due to quality of the recordings themselves.

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