First published 2024
Kate Andersen Brower takes readers deep into the U.S. Capitol building, where George Washington laid the first stone and democracy plays out daily. She explores the restricted areas most Americans never see and introduces the essential staff who keep Congress running. Pages deliver messages through marble corridors. Doorkeepers guard chamber entrances. Librarians maintain vast collections of legislative history. Senators and representatives debate laws in chambers where some claim ghosts still walk. Brower uncovers both celebrated milestones and troubling episodes from the Capitol's past. She shows how this iconic building houses not just lawmakers but an entire community dedicated to preserving American democracy. The book reveals the Capitol as both symbol and workplace, where ordinary people do extraordinary work to keep the legislative process alive.
Genres: history, politics, non-fiction, american-history
Vibes: intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: informative, insider-perspective
Setting: U.S. Capitol, Washington
Period: 21st-century
304 pages · Kindle Edition · Quill Tree Books