24 Hours at the Capitol
An Oral History of the January 6th Insurrection
Will be published approx. on 30. December 2025
Book
Hardback
216 pages
978-0-8070-2062-3 (ISBN)
Description
The 24 Hours in Charlottesville author offers a minute-by-minute account of the January 6 riots through never-before-heard stories of those who were there
Neus goes beyond mainstream reporting to reveal important truths about the US white nationalist movement
This bracing account reconstructs what it was actually like in and around the Capitol during those 24 hours.
Neus’s sources include original interviews, court documents, firsthand accounts, the US Capitol Historical Society’s oral history project on the insurrection, and the work of Tim Heaphy, chief investigator of the congressional January 6 Select Committee.
January 6 was largely planned right out in the open, but lawmakers and government officials underestimated the threat in part because it was coming from white people. Neus examines the underlying racial implications of not only the attack itself, but also in the planning and coordination of the response.
Neus goes beyond mainstream reporting to reveal important truths about the US white nationalist movement
This bracing account reconstructs what it was actually like in and around the Capitol during those 24 hours.
- Lawmakers recount donning gas masks and being evacuated to safe rooms.
- Police officers recall insurrectionists screaming at them and calling them traitors.
- Staffers remember “walking over pools of blood” as they ran for their lives.
- A young Asian-American staffer recalls locking herself in a room just feet from the rioters, mentally preparing to be raped.
- A mostly Black janitorial staff began cleaning the blood of insurrectionists off the marble floor on the Capitol before the building was even officially secured.
Neus’s sources include original interviews, court documents, firsthand accounts, the US Capitol Historical Society’s oral history project on the insurrection, and the work of Tim Heaphy, chief investigator of the congressional January 6 Select Committee.
January 6 was largely planned right out in the open, but lawmakers and government officials underestimated the threat in part because it was coming from white people. Neus examines the underlying racial implications of not only the attack itself, but also in the planning and coordination of the response.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Boston, MA
United States
Dimensions
Height: 237 mm
Width: 166 mm
Thickness: 27 mm
Weight
473 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-8070-2062-3 (9780807020623)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
12/2025
Beacon Press
€28.49
Available for download
Person
Nora Neus is an Emmy-nominated producer, speaker, and author who covers race, policing in America, and white nationalism. She has produced over 3,400 hours of live television at CNN and covers major national and international news for outlets including the Washington Post, POLITICO, VICE News, Teen Vogue, and The Guardian. Neus also runs the Longform Lab, a 6-week intensive course for journalists.
Content
Introduction
Cast of Characters
PART 1: “A YEAR IN THE MAKING”
CHAPTER 1
“It’s time for fucking war if they steal this shit”
CHAPTER 2
“Will be wild”
CHAPTER 3
“One million patriots”
PART 2: THE INSURRECTION
CHAPTER 4
“That’s exactly how Charlottesville began”
CHAPTER 5
“Things started to get really violent”
CHAPTER 6
“Hand-to-hand battle”
CHAPTER 7
“Then all of a sudden we were inside”
CHAPTER 8
“If they stop the proceedings, they will have succeeded in stopping the validation of the President of the United States”
CHAPTER 9
“You can see the line of loss. The territory is theirs”
CHAPTER 10
“They just killed a girl”
CHAPTER 11
“Kill him with his own gun”
CHAPTER 12
“It just was another level into Dante’s Inferno”
CHAPTER 13
“The mob kept attacking even while we tended to their wounded”
CHAPTER 14
“You started to see the police officers make progress”
PART 3: “IT’S GOING TO REQUIRE A NATIONAL RECKONING”
CHAPTER 15
“Do I fear another one of these happening? Absolutely”
Acknowledgments
Notes
Index
Cast of Characters
PART 1: “A YEAR IN THE MAKING”
CHAPTER 1
“It’s time for fucking war if they steal this shit”
CHAPTER 2
“Will be wild”
CHAPTER 3
“One million patriots”
PART 2: THE INSURRECTION
CHAPTER 4
“That’s exactly how Charlottesville began”
CHAPTER 5
“Things started to get really violent”
CHAPTER 6
“Hand-to-hand battle”
CHAPTER 7
“Then all of a sudden we were inside”
CHAPTER 8
“If they stop the proceedings, they will have succeeded in stopping the validation of the President of the United States”
CHAPTER 9
“You can see the line of loss. The territory is theirs”
CHAPTER 10
“They just killed a girl”
CHAPTER 11
“Kill him with his own gun”
CHAPTER 12
“It just was another level into Dante’s Inferno”
CHAPTER 13
“The mob kept attacking even while we tended to their wounded”
CHAPTER 14
“You started to see the police officers make progress”
PART 3: “IT’S GOING TO REQUIRE A NATIONAL RECKONING”
CHAPTER 15
“Do I fear another one of these happening? Absolutely”
Acknowledgments
Notes
Index