The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War (Unabridged)
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4.4 • 23 Ratings
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- $16.99
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The author of The Splendid and the Vile brings to life the pivotal five months between the election of Abraham Lincoln and the start of the Civil War in this “riveting reexamination of a nation in tumult” (Los Angeles Times).
“Perhaps no other historian has ever rendered the struggle for Sumter in such authoritative detail as Larson does here.”—The Washington Post
“Even history buffs will find much that is new here.”—The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
On November 6, 1860, Abraham Lincoln became the fluky victor in a tight race for president. The country was bitterly at odds; Southern extremists were moving ever closer to destroying the Union, with one state after another seceding and Lincoln powerless to stop them. Slavery fueled the conflict, but somehow the passions of North and South came to focus on a lonely federal fortress in Charleston Harbor: Fort Sumter.
Master storyteller Erik Larson offers a gripping account of the chaotic months between Lincoln’s election and the Confederacy’s shelling of Sumter—a period marked by tragic errors and miscommunications, enflamed egos and craven ambitions, personal tragedies and betrayals. Lincoln himself wrote that the trials of these five months were “so great that, could I have anticipated them, I would not have believed it possible to survive them.”
At the heart of this suspense-filled narrative are Major Robert Anderson, Sumter’s commander and a former slave owner sympathetic to the South but loyal to the Union; Edmund Ruffin, a vain and bloodthirsty radical who stirs secessionist ardor at every opportunity; and Mary Boykin Chesnut, wife of a prominent planter, conflicted over both marriage and slavery and seeing parallels between them. In the middle of it all is the overwhelmed Lincoln, battling with his duplicitous secretary of state, William Seward, as he tries desperately to avert a war that he fears is inevitable—one that will eventually kill 750,000 Americans.
Drawing on diaries, secret communiques, slave ledgers, and plantation records, Larson gives us a political horror story that captures the forces that led America to the brink—a dark reminder that we often don’t see a cataclysm coming until it’s too late.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Erik Larson’s epic historical listen looks at a huge turning point: the six months between Abraham Lincoln’s election and the opening barrage of the Civil War, the Battle of Fort Sumter. Larson fleshes out this story by following the lives of individuals—from conflicted Fort Sumter commander Robert Anderson to Edmund Ruffin, a respected agriculturist who became a rabidly pro-slavery political firebrand later in life. Like all of Larson’s exquisitely researched books, it’s filled with surprising details (apparently, baseball pioneer Abner Doubleday was stationed at Fort Sumter), and it moves as quickly as a tightly plotted thriller. Veteran narrator Will Patton is a perfect match for Larson’s rich prose, delivering it with both wit and gravitas. Even if you know your Civil War history, The Demon of Unrest will reveal new facets of the conflict.
Customer Reviews
Best Audiobook I’ve Heard
I bought the audiobook because it’s Eric Larson and I’m an avid fan of his narrative nonfiction. I listened with great satisfaction because it’s Will Patton (of Armageddon, Remember the Titans fame) speaking.
I’m going back in to get the oil and the gas
The first time you can do this you have the option of a different one that will not work with you if you’re using it in a way that’s a little more complicated but you can also try to do the second one with your computer or something and it works for the second and fourth time and it won’t let me change my settings on it but I
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