and the Democratic Century: A Biography

Award-winning New York Times Notable Book of the Year, national bestseller, and winner of the D.B. Hardeman prize, it is the definitive biography of the legendary Speaker of the House. To read this book is to revisit many of the greatest moments of late 20th-century American politics: colorful characters, grand triumphs, and bitter ideological wars during the rise and decline of Democratic politics. When most modern political personas seem to be slick and elusive images fashioned by outside interests and partisan spinmasters, O'Neill's legacy endures as a champion of the common man who never forgot where he came from. A garrulous legislative titan and rogue, he used the force of his personality to persuade his colleagues to work with him at a time when the government's role as a protector of society was changing dramatically. Given exclusive access to previously untapped resources, Farrell has written a rich, compelling work of narrative history and a model of the biographer's art. It is an invaluable addition to the American political canon.