Imperial Reconstructions

Judge, Puck, and other widely available sources would have similarly enlivened this monograph. In spite of these modest reservations, Klotz’s important work deserves attention. Scholars such as Klotz, who work in an interdisciplinary fashion in an age of hyperspecialization, are absolutely essential. Lyndon Johnson’s biographer Robert Caro titled one of his volumesMaster of the Senate to capture the Texan’s legislative brilliance. After reading Klotz’s examination of Reed’s political acumen, one might, with apologies to Les Misérables, think of Reed as Master of the House.