A captivating and deeply personal account of how history is made - by the U.S. president who inspired us to believe in the power of democracy. In this highly anticipated first volume of his presidential memoirs, Barack Obama narrates the story of his unlikely odyssey from a young man searching for his identity to a leading politician of the free world. In remarkably personal terms, he describes his political journey as well as the pivotal moments of the first term of his historic presidency - a time of dramatic change and turbulence.