When Barak Obama began his run for the US presidency in early 2007, he was given little chance of success. Time Magazine photographer Callie Shell accompanied him from the beginning of his campaign, as one of three people in the van in which he traveled from city to city. Thus, she was in an ideal position to witness his campaign from the outset, to document the early months when he was a virtual unknown, through his early successes and failures in the party primaries, his historic capture of the Democratic nomination, his Presidential campaign, and his ultimate electoral victory. In the color photographs in this book, we see both public and private moments -- he, Michelle, and his children, relaxing at home or watching TV; he and Michelle traveling on the campaign trail or taking time out at a rock concert; the campaign stops at diners, factories, barber shops, and high school gymnasiums around the nation; the intent and hopeful faces of people in crowds where he spoke; the enormous rallies as he became a wildly - popular national figure; his oversees tour; and his post - election victory speech. Quality of the photographs is excellent; they appear on low gloss white paper and commonly are presented on two-page spreads. And of course the candidate and his family are remarkably photogenic.

Accompanying the photographs are essays and analyses from Time Magazine, pieces written by such analysts as Joe Klein, Michael Weiskopf, Amy Sullivan, Karen Tumulty, Nancy Gibbs, Richard Stengel, Amanda Ripley, and Curtis Sittenfeld. Because these articles were written and published while the events were occurring, they give an ongoing account by analysts and writers whose job it was to document the making of history, and who could not know how things would ultimately turn out. The articles are largely descriptive and analytical, and fairly (but not universally) sympathetic (probably reflecting the fact that they were chosen for this book after the election). Their titles tell the story: "The Fresh Face", "A Mother's Gift" (about his childhood and adolescence, with accompanying family photos), "Michelle's Story", "How He Learned to Win", "A Star is Born", "Defeating Hillary", "The Overseas Test", "Ready to Lead", and "The People's Choice".

President Obama is a book that only a magazine like Time could have produced, a valuable and informative record of the historic US election of 2008 taken down as it occurred. ( )