Barnes&Noble.com
“January 6th continues to be a day worthy of discussion and investigation…As one of the few Republicans to speak out against the uprising, this is a fascinating political narrative shedding new light on that day.”
JANUARY 2024 - AudioFile
This memoir about the investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol combines an able narration by author Liz Cheney with clips of quoted material from actual sources, such as news reports and recorded speeches. As a result, the work has a sense of immediacy that cannot be duplicated in print. Because she was a longtime U.S. representative, Cheney knows how to effectively utilize the spoken word. She varies her pacing and tone nicely to fit the subject matter. But there are times it feels like she has to restrain herself from shouting about the moral cowardice of several Republican leaders. All in all, this audiobook is enlightening even for well-informed listeners. R.C.G. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
2023-12-06
The former House Republican Conference leader’s account of the tumult surrounding the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.
Early on, Cheney, the former Wyoming representative who helped lead the House January 6 Committee, writes, “We cannot make the grave mistake of returning Donald Trump—the man who caused January 6—to the White House, or to any position of public trust, ever again.” The author provides a highly detailed account of the chaotic events that transpired from Election Day 2020 through the committee’s preparation for the televised hearings (much of the final section reads like an expansive transcript of the hearings, along with commentary) to the present moment and the risks the nation still faces. Following recent titles by other Republican insiders recounting these activities—e.g., former Rep. Adam Kinzinger’s Renegade—Cheney’s account excels in its vivid portraits of Trump’s key enablers, the most reprehensible being Kevin McCarthy, Jim Jordan, and other members of the House Freedom Caucus, including the recently named House Speaker, Mike Johnson, who actively attempted to mislead House members with false claims about the integrity of the election. While readers will likely commend Cheney’s genuine efforts to identify and aggressively oppose the threats to democracy posed by Trump during the 2020 election, what they may find sorely lacking is deeper self-reflection on her prior political views—the kind of personal history and soul-searching that distinguishes Kinzinger’s book. Such a history would include any justification for her having voted for Trump in 2016 and again in 2020; after all, it’s not as though his true colors weren’t apparent during his first term in office—and even before. Still, Cheney’s book is a useful document as we continue to sort through the ramifications of the Jan. 6 attack.
An earnest dissection of the threat Trump poses to our democracy.
