MARK TURNER holds on tight for a mesmerising display of Neath-born ragtime virtuosity
The Great Dissembler
JOHN GREEN appreciates a meticulous dissection of Lyndon Johnson’s presidency that exposes political and economic structures in the US
SITUATION ROOM: Walt Rostow shows President Lyndon B. Johnson a model of the Khe Sanh area 02/15/1968. Johnson ordered the US military to hold Khe Sanh at all costs, and with the eventual abandonment of the base "Khe Sanh became etched in the minds of many Americans as a symbol of the pointless sacrifice and muddled tactics that permeated a doomed U.S. war effort in Vietnam”.
[Public Domain] 
ALAN MORRISON introduces a UK poet whose despised daytime occupation provides the subject for his writing
MARK TURNER wallows in the virtuosity of Swansea Jazz Festival openers, Simon Spillett and Pete Long
PAUL DONOVAN recommends three new books that explore the human relationship with nature
Doomed adolescents, when the missing person is you, classic whodunnit, and an anti-capitalist eco-thriller
WILL STONE takes a ticket to indie disco heaven, but misses the rarely performed tunes
The Years of Lyndon Johnson, vol 4: The passage of Power
Robert A Caro, The Bodley Head, £30
WHO wants to read a biography of Lyndon Johnson?
His presidency of the US from 1963-69 was hardly a memorable one. But this is not so much a book about a bland US president but a meticulous dissection of political and economic structures in the US. It is also a riveting read by one of the modern masters of historical writing.
More from this author
Despite the primitive means the director was forced to use, this is an incredibly moving film from Gaza and you should see it, urges JOHN GREEN
JOHN GREEN recommends an Argentinian film classic on re-release - a deliciously cynical tale of swindling and double-cross
JOHN GREEN is fascinated by a very readable account of Britain’s involvement in South America
JOHN GREEN is stirred by an ambitious art project that explores solidarity and the shared memory of occupation
