Publishers Weekly
04/17/2023
That the 2017 Unite the Right rally—in which “hundreds of white supremacists and neo-Nazis” paraded through the streets of Charlottesville, Va., shouting “Jews will not replace us!”—descended into “extreme violence” should not have been a surprise, according to this visceral history of the protest and its aftermath. Drawing on dozens of interviews with journalists, residents, and activists, CNN producer Neus (coauthor, Muhammad Najem, War Reporter) reveals that police and municipal officials ignored repeated warnings that people might get hurt and seemed to offer more accommodations to the rally’s organizers than to counterprotesters. Interviewees also delve into the city’s racial dynamics (“It’s a very beautiful place, physically, with a very ugly underside, of poverty, inequality”) and the “very whitewashed version of American history” taught at the University of Virginia. Some of the book’s most powerful testimony comes from the mother of Heather Heyer, who was killed when a white supremacist slammed his car into a crowd of counterprotesters. Neus’s ground-up approach paints the violence as a slow-motion catastrophe that could have been avoided, though the free speech issues involved get somewhat short shrift. Still, this is a moving and frequently enraging look at how the tragedy unfolded. (July)
From the Publisher
Not just a visceral portrayal of political violence, but also a major addition to our understanding of right-wing terrorism.”
—Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review
“Neus’ wrenchingly graphic account makes clear, it was the malign, violent intent brought to the situation by the white supremacist participants that would drive the events of that awful weekend.”
—Booklist
“An imperative account.”
—Ms.
“A foundational piece of current events literature with a healthy dose of emotion thrown in for good measure.”
—Midwest Book Review
“Nora Neus has given us a grand gift: the definitive inside story of the historic Charlottesville neofascist event in August 2017! We have yet to emerge from under its ominous shadows.”
—Dr. Cornel West
“At last, a narrative that pulls together unheard voices and events from Charlottesville’s Summer of Hate, giving insight, warts and all.”
—Susan Bro, mother of Heather Heyer
“A riveting minute-by-minute account of a day that shocked the world. Nora Neus reveals new details and insight about what really happened in those twenty-four hours in Charlottesville in 2017. It is well worth reading.”
—Anderson Cooper, CNN anchor
“Astonishing new details on an event that might very well be considered a turning point in our American century. I walked away in awe over how much I learned about Charlottesville. This work by Nora Neus feels like something people will both need and want to read.”
—John Berman, CNN anchor
“With this original book, Neus has done a great service for American democracy. Interweaving oral histories of the fateful days of the Unite the Right Rally in 2017, this narrative reconstructs how hate unfolded on the streets of Charlottesville and how a diverse spectrum of citizens fought back to protect peace and justice.”
—Alexandra Minna Stern, best-selling author of Proud Boys and the White Ethnostate: How the Alt-Right Is Warping the American Imagination
“This is the account we needed of what happened in Charlottesville. The swirl of violence and political chaos left details hard to come by and reflection nearly impossible, and Nora Neus delivers on both. The book also raises questions that still need answers if we’re to avoid ‘another Charlottesville.’”
—Charlie Moore, executive producer of Anderson Cooper 360, CNN
“As time passes, historical events like Charlottesville naturally tend to fade in our collective memory. But with this remarkable and important work, Nora Neus brings Charlottesville roaring back to life, with all the vivid detail and unflinching attention it deserves. This book puts you right in the middle of that fateful day, as told by the people who lived it, and it reminds us—by clear-eyed reporting, not by preaching—that hate remains a potent threat to our survival.”
—Elie Honig, CNN senior legal analyst and best-selling author of Hatchet Man: How Bill Barr Broke the Prosecutor's Code and Corrupted the Justice Department
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2023-03-21
A riveting account of the human consequences of the violent 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Journalist Neus, who field-produced the rally for Anderson Cooper’s CNN program, uses the voices of counterprotesters, local clergy, elected officials, University of Virginia students, and journalists to lay bare the collective anxieties engendered by “alt-right” protesters. The result is a gripping narrative of psychological and physical damage, laid out vividly by Neus via the voices of those on the ground. On May 13, according to the Heaphy report, White nationalists in KKK regalia “formed into ranks…in front of the statue of Robert E. Lee and chanted ‘blood and soil,’ ‘you will not replace us,’ and ‘Russia is our friend.’ ” In July, notes the UVA dean of students, “the flyers for the Unite the Right rally had started showing up and they had very neo-Nazi imagery, a fascist eagle.” According to the chaplain at a local hospital, medical professionals “were preparing for mass casualties.” On the night of Aug. 11, White supremacists marched to campus, and a UVA professor “saw 150, 200 neo-Nazis with torches….The students were in a circle, locked arms around the [Thomas Jefferson] statue.” The next night, noted a student, “a group of white supremacists, some with their hands taped like boxers, punched, kicked, and choked people who tried to block their path, leaving them bloody on the pavement.” Amid the turmoil, a counterprotestor and former member of Congress recalls, “The shocking thing…was that [the fighting] went on for like three hours and the police still hadn’t moved in.” When the police finally did arrive, they pushed the marchers into a crowd of counterprotestors. A local clergyman remembers: “What we had for hours after that were bands of Nazis roaming through downtown.” Another: “There was blood everywhere.”
Not just a visceral portrayal of political violence, but also a major addition to our understanding of right-wing terrorism.
