The Demon of Unrest, by Erik Larson, tells the story of the events leading up to the beginning of the American Civil War. The book covers the period from 1807 until the surrender of Ft Sumter in April 1861, but most of the story covers the events from the election of President Lincoln in November 1860 until the surrender. The story is very detailed and is based on diaries, journals, correspondence and news reports during this time. Larson identifies the leading proponents of secession: James Henry Hammond, of South Carolina, owner of over 300 slaves, and Edmund Ruffin, of Virginia. Larson also notes the raid on Harper’s Ferry by John Brown in 1859 and the effect it had on the entire south on the subject of secession. The story then goes on to the period from Lincoln’s election to the fall of Fort Sumter. Starting with South Carolina’s first debate on secession through the act itself on December 20, 1860, and their intent to seize all federal property and arms in the state, the fate of Fort Sumter was a major dilemma. Situated in the center of Charleston harbor it controlled ingress and egress to Charleston. South Carolina, considering themselves an independent nation, sent a delegation to Washington to negotiate relinquishing the fort to South Carolina; however, even President Buchanan knew formally negotiating with South Carolina would be seen as recognizing their independence. Throughout the whole crisis Buchanan did nothing decisive wishing to leave the crisis to the new President after he was inaugurated on March 4. Meanwhile, South Carolina, joined by the other states as they seceded, were building and fortifying batteries surrounding Fort Sumter. Even after Lincoln’s inauguration confusion, misunderstood orders and uncertainty of what action to take delayed any attempt to reinforce and resupply the fort; even when an attempt was finally made in April confusion on who had the authority to assign the navy ships to the mission meant that the Powhatan, the most powerful warship in the Navy, did not take part in the expedition. The relief fleet arrived too late to save the fort. This was an excellent, detailed and long account of the events leading up to the beginning of our Civil War. All of the important people leading up to this crisis were identified and their roles explained. This book is worth reading for those who want to know how to avoid such a crisis in the future.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. I grew up in Pennsylvania, just outside Gettysburg, but have lived in Charleston, SC for over 10 years now and in SC for over 20. I found the author's bias toward southerners - their attitudes toward Yankees (yes, it's still a thing), their idea of honor, their society structure, etc. - all very accurate and very obviously telling. The author made no qualms of making his belief that the Civil War was exclusively based on the protection of slavery well known in the book. However, in Charleston the belief is (still) that they were fighting for State's rights and to protect their way of life, not necessarily to protect their right to own slaves. Larson truly hit the nail on the head with the dichotomy of the war's driving force and couldn't have more accurately captured the attitudes of those times and still now. Fort Sumter was vividly described and easily allowed readers to visualize the site, even for those who have never been here in person. My only negative for the book is that I felt some of the side stories could have been minimized just to keep the focus on the war. Ms. Mary Chestnut's storyline in particular I didn't feel contributed much to the story of Fort Sumter and the start of the Civil War, but would be an excellent basis for any number of spin-off stories about life in that era and/or in Charleston. If I could give this book a 4.5 out of 5, I would. Larson's research was impressive and obviously thorough. My only point deduction comes from the length that I think could have been cleaned up a little bit. Otherwise, this is a very worthy investment of time for history lovers!

First and foremost, I am reading along to the audible version of this book and the narrators voice is amazing. I highly recommend buying by the the book and the audible on this one. This is the second Erik Larson book I've read, "Devil in the White City" being the first. With Devil the biggest criticism was that the duel narratives were disjointed and sort of crammed together. I agreed with this. Reading this book is so much more cohesive,and therefore easy to get into. The civil war isn't even one of my favorite historical eras and I am addicted. Erik Larson really knocks this out of the park. I highly recommend trying this book on for size, it's intrancing.