The Demon of Unrest
A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War
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4.4 • 1.7K Ratings
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- $4.99
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).
“A feast of historical insight and narrative verve . . . This is Erik Larson at his best, enlivening even a thrice-told tale into an irresistible thriller.”—The Wall Street Journal
A PARADE BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
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 read takes a look 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—baseball pioneer Abner Doubleday was stationed at Fort Sumter, and Lincoln’s election was so controversial that he had to disguise himself on his train ride to Washington to get sworn in—and it reads as quickly as a tightly plotted thriller. Even if you know your Civil War history, The Demon of Unrest will reveal new facets of the conflict.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this twisty and cinematic account, bestseller Larson (The Splendid and the Vile) recreates the five-month period between Abraham Lincoln's 1861 election and the outbreak of the Civil War, focusing on the intensifying showdown over Fort Sumter in Charleston, S.C., where Maj. Robert Anderson, the U.S. Army commander, faced a swelling Confederate force with his outgunned garrison of 75 soldiers. Larson mirrors Anderson's struggle to hold his post while avoiding provocations that might lead to war with Lincoln's tight-rope-walk attempt to stand firm against secession without goading the South into it. As he traveled to Washington, D.C., to take office—arriving in disguise after dodging a rumored assassination plot in Baltimore—Lincoln vacillated over whether to resupply Fort Sumter or surrender it. In Larson's telling, Anderson's ordeal makes for a superb war story—his secret Christmastime redeployment from Charleston's indefensible Fort Moultrie to Fort Sumter, for instance, emerges as a masterpiece of psychological deception. The author probes the Southern perspective as well—via acerbic diarist Mary Chesnut among others—and assesses the ideologies and errors that birthed the Civil War, including a violent pro-slavery mob's efforts to stop Congress from certifying Lincoln's Electoral College victory. The result is a mesmerizing and disconcerting look at an era when consensus dissolved into deadly polarization. Photos.
Customer Reviews
Detailed character accounts
True to Larsen style… you learn not only the the “how” but the “who, what and why” of the start of the civil war. History buffs will appreciate his research.
Amazing.
Could not put it down. Wish all history books were written as this one.
Astonishing
This account really opens your eyes to how such an unimaginable tragedy could occur and is a reminder of just how dangerous we human beings are, especially when we don’t understand the ramifications of our actions.