The new biography of President Joe Biden by National Book Award winner and New Yorker writer Evan Osnos - Book of the Year from Financial Times, Guardian, and Daily Express.

'A thoroughly enjoyable introduction' Guardian

Biden has overcome unbearable trials, many humiliations in the presidential primaries, a potentially disabling speech difficulty, and his mediocrity. Now he bears the hopes of billions on his shoulders.

Joseph R. Biden Jr. has been described as both the luckiest and unluckiest man - lucky to have maintained a fifty-year political career that led him to the White House, but also marked by deep personal losses.

Although Biden's life has been shaped by drama, he has also moved forward with a disposition, rare among senior political positions, to confront his vulnerabilities, mistakes, and the twists of his fortune. His trials have shaped a deep empathy for others in difficult situations - a crucial quality as he faces a country in its most challenging hour in decades.

Combining close journalism with a broader perspective, Evan Osnos illuminates Biden's life and captures the characters and significance of an extraordinary presidential election. He draws from extensive interviews with Biden and revealing conversations with more than a hundred others, including Presidents Barack Obama, Cory Booker, Amy Klobuchar, Pete Buttigieg, and various progressive activists, advisors, opponents, and members of the Biden family.

In this detailed portrait, Biden emerges as flawed but determined, and shaped by the crucible of tragedy - a man who may be surprisingly suited for his moment in history.