The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War by Erik Larson
By Erik Larson
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The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War
By Erik Larson
Grab Your Copy
We may earn a commission from these links.
Categories: Presidents & Heads of State/ Military – General/ United States – 19th Century / United States – Civil War Period (1850-1877)
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On November 6, 1860, Abraham Lincoln emerged as the unexpected victor in a tightly contested presidential race, amid a nation deeply divided over slavery. Southern extremists were inching closer to secession, with states leaving the Union one after another while Lincoln, powerless to intervene, watched the crisis escalate. The conflict’s intensity centered on Fort Sumter, a solitary federal fortress in Charleston Harbor.
Erik Larson’s masterful narrative captures the chaotic period between Lincoln’s election and the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter. This era was rife with tragic mistakes, miscommunications, inflamed egos, and personal betrayals. Lincoln himself admitted that the challenges of these months were so immense that, had he foreseen them, he would have doubted his ability to endure.
The book features compelling figures like Major Robert Anderson, the conflicted commander of Fort Sumter; Edmund Ruffin, a radical secessionist; and Mary Boykin Chesnut, a planter’s wife torn between her marriage and her stance on slavery. At the center stands Lincoln, grappling with his duplicitous secretary of state, William Seward, in a desperate attempt to prevent an inevitable war that would claim 750,000 American lives.
Drawing from diaries, secret communiques, slave ledgers and plantation records, Larson provides a gripping political horror story that captures the forces driving America to the brink of war—a stark reminder of how cataclysmic events often loom unnoticed until it’s too late.
About Erik Larson
Erik Larson is the author of six previous national bestsellers–The Splendid and the Vile, Dead Wake, In the Garden of Beasts, Thunderstruck, The Devil in the White City, and Isaac’s Storm–which have collectively sold more than ten million copies. His books have been published in nearly twenty countries.
Reviews
“Larson, one of today’s pre-eminent nonfiction storytellers, trawls a variety of archives to explore the historically momentous months between Abraham Lincoln’s election and the Battle of Fort Sumter.”–The New York Times
“Perhaps no other historian has ever rendered the struggle for Sumter in such authoritative detail as Larson does here. . . . Few historians, too, have done a better job of untangling the web of intrigues and counter-intrigues that helped provoke the eventual attack and surrender.”–The Washington Post
“The immediacy of the story in The Demon of Unrest–as well as on-the-ground reports from inside South Carolina’s Fort Sumter, an early Union bulwark–lend the book vigor.”–Minneapolis Star Tribune
“[Larson] brings a welcome novelist’s sensibility to his writing. He has an eye for telling details, quick and potent character descriptions and a relentless narrative momentum.”–The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“A thoughtful account that also offers a sobering reminder of how humans often don’t see a catastrophe coming until it’s too late.”–The Independent
“So many volumes have been written about the origins of the American Civil War that one might heave a sigh at the thought of yet another, but Larson has found a genuinely original way of telling the story–and storytelling, on the basis of serious research, is what he does well.”–The Telegraph
“Engagingly written and fraught with tension . . . The Demon of Unrest will add to Larson’s luster as one of the great historical-nonfiction writers of our time. . . . [A] literary masterwork.”—National Review
“Erik Larson’s latest book brings new life to an old war. The Demon of Unrest, [his] vivid depiction of the lead-up to the Civil War, is a masterclass in reportage and storytelling.”–Garden and Gun
“An all-too-prescient tale of tension and tragedy, clashing egos, miscommunication, power, and betrayal.”–People
“Even diehard Civil War aficionados will learn from [The Demon of Unrest]. . . . A riveting reexamination of a nation in tumult.“–Los Angeles Times
“Twisty and cinematic . . . A mesmerizing and disconcerting look at an era when consensus dissolved into deadly polarization.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Fascinating details, fresh perspectives, and lively writing make this a standout view of the antebellum and Civil War eras.”—Booklist (starred review)
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