The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War

At a time when our nation is perilously divided, Erik Larson publishes "The Demon of Unrest" and sounds a note of warning. He authors another winning work of narrative nonfiction detailing the events following the 1860 presidential election that propelled Abraham Lincoln to the White House and ushered in America's cataclysmic descent into civil war. Additionally, he brilliantly animates the famous characters of this period (Buchanan, Lincoln, Seward, and Davis) and lesser names such as Edmund Ruffin, James Hammond, and Mary Chesnut of the Southern planter aristocracy. Strikingly, the latter, products of generational slave ownership and owning as many as 400 slaves, vociferously and unashamedly champion the cause of slavery. Larson’s narrative serves as a cautionary tale, reminding us of the dangers of division and the importance of unity in our current social and political climate. From his extensive research, the author quotes from speeches, letters, diary entries, and other period documents revealing unapologetic pro-slavery sentiment. Through these Southerners' thoughts and comments, we learn just how, like Kudzu, slavery became wildly entwined with Southern culture. No matter how inexplicable or indefensible their position might be today, in the mid-19th century, these Americans believed it was their birthright to continue owning other human beings in the name of tradition and because slavery was so much a part of the Southern culture and rural economy. More importantly, with "The Demon of Unrest," Larson sheds light on how charged the issue of slavery was in the years leading up to Lincoln's election and, therefore, how inevitable secession would become. As always, the author’s character development is first-rate. Perhaps best of all is his treatment of Major Robert Anderson, a career U.S. Army officer and one of the central characters appearing throughout “The Demon of Unrest.” Anderson, the Fort Sumter, South Carolina commander, and gallant American patriot of the first order, became one of the early heroes of this period. We witness his painstaking preparations to fortify Fort Sumter, a U.S. Army garrison and initial Union stronghold, key terrain in the middle of Charleston Harbor and the annals of U.S. history. He and his charges remain alone on an island, steadfastly defending American ideals. Their challenge becomes existential on April 12, 1861, when the Confederates bombard the fort and two days later force its surrender to start the war. Claiming three-quarters of a million lives, the American Civil War, or the War Between the States, was a watershed event, the legacy with which we, as Americans, still live today. In addition to the author’s signature ability to capture the mood of a particular period or incident in history, Larson fans will recognize his trademark emphasis on meticulously mining historical documents to bring the story to life, for instance, capturing seemingly insignificant comments and minor actions of the characters so that we see that they, like us, were fully human. In detailing their activities, Larson transports us to an earlier age during which honor and chivalry in the Antebellum South held sway. Then, negotiations deadlocked, both sides determined not to move off their hardened positions, the nation tilts to war, and we readers have a ringside seat. The author helps us see firsthand how the Civil War, which resulted in more than 600,000 casualties over four years, was virtually a foregone conclusion. Larson writes fluidly but concisely, some chapters only a few pages long, and his sturdy vocabulary challenges readers to be Merriam-Webster-ready. His strength is pacing; he allows events to unfold in a way that captures the reader's attention and holds it transfixed for page after page. Like all his books, “The Demon of Unrest” reads like the story is happening in real-time. Larson achieves his objective; he sounds the alarm that another collapse into chaos is not far-fetched. Unrest in America is mounting. One reads "The Demon of Unrest" with his mouth agape, incredulous that these events happened and could happen again. Worry, anxiety, and fear grip the nation today just as they did in the deeply divided America of 1861. South Carolina, specifically Charleston, became ground zero for American turning on American and friend becoming foe. A charming U.S. city seemingly overnight morphed into a powder keg. Indeed, 1861 brought us a national Hatfield-McCoy moment, the American family riven by disagreement and debate. When considering our shrill and uncompromising public discourse and eroding confidence in U.S. government institutions today, readers of "The Demon of Unrest" can appreciate how easily the situation could devolve into another armed conflict. Above all else, Larson’s "The Demon of Unrest" reminds Americans that we must, in Abraham Lincoln's words, "appeal to the better angels of our nature."

Fascinating real-life story of the little known history of lead-up to the Civil War. Some people awful, others noble. Well-researched and very readable and compelling. Strongly recommend.

Terrific writing! Thoroughly researched...brings history alive with amazing ability to weave a non-fiction narrative of a crazy period. Highly recommend!

The Demon of Unrest Demon of Unrest demonstrates that a talented author, in this case Erik Larson, can find something new to say about a historical period that one might think has already been examined from every angle and by brilliant historians. Larson has concentrated on a period of less than six months — from Lincoln’s election on November 6, 1860 to the firing on Fort Sumpter in the harbor of Charleston, S.C., on April 12, 1861, its evacuation two days later, and Lincoln’s request of states to provide 75,000 troops to put down the rebellion, issued April 15, 1861. Two characters loom large in Larson’s narrative. The first of these is Major Robert Anderson, Fort Sumter’s commanding officer and a former slave owner from the South who nevertheless is loyal to the Union. He is portrayed sympathetically, as he makes an early decision without orders to abandon the forts on the mainland around Charleston as indefensible and surreptitiously transfers his troops to the fort in the middle of the harbor which is more easily defended. Anderson shows great concern for his troops and makes the best of the limited provisions and inadequate, dilapidated defenses of the fort. As the narrative unfolds, Anderson beseeches his superiors in Washington not only for supplies and reinforcements but also for direction on what he should do. His entreaties are met with silence. Edmund Ruffin is the character the author chooses to portray the rising, irrational passion of southerners to secede. A rabble rouser, Ruffin was frustrated that his efforts to promote secession in Virginia are ineffective. But John Brown’s raid on Harper’s Ferry in 1859 gave Ruffin an opportunity to raise his personal profile as an apostle of disunion. Thwarted by the hesitancy in Virginia, where many dismissed him as a hate-mongering fanatic, and in Kentucky where many favored preservation of the Union, Ruffin transfers his campaign to South Carolina and joins a special convention in Columbia that approves secession. There, and soon after in Charleston, he is feted as a hero. Although without a military background, he attaches himself to the Palmetto Guard, a state militia unit comprising South Carolina aristocracy, and ends up pulling the lanyard to fire the first shot on Fort Sumter. What about Lincoln during this period? Larson does a brilliant job of putting the reader in the moment and recreating the uncertainty and unprecedented nature of the time. Lincoln had the overriding goal of preserving the Union, but he had no experience in Washington and was unfamiliar with the levers of power. Things looked bleak. And in the period between his election and inauguration, Lincoln was powerless. Would Buchanan and General Winfield Scott simply surrender Sumter and other southern forts? Furthermore, Lincoln was uncertain his election would be confirmed in a count of electoral votes — a potential problem that resonates given the attempt on January 6, 2021 to disrupt such a count. The constitutionally mandated final count and certification of the electoral vote was to take place on February 13, 1861. “If the two Houses refuse to meet at all, or meet without quorum of each, where shall we be?” Lincoln wrote. “I think it best for me not to attempt appearing in Washington till the result of that ceremony is known.” As we now know, the count did take place and Lincoln received a majority of electoral votes. But the soon-to-be president was still finding his way. Lincoln asked William Seward, his secretary of state, to review the draft of his inaugural address. Seward, believing himself the only man who understood the situation, edited the draft considerably. Fortunately Lincoln did not take the more controversial changes. In particular, Lincoln ignored Seward’s stilted redraft of the conclusion of the address and personally re-wrote the ending, “laden with reverence and barely suppressed emotion.” Throughout the book, Larson draws on the contemporary observations of a British journalist, William Howard Russell of the Times of London. Russell was struck by the Lincoln administration’s inability to influence events. “Everywhere the Southern leaders are forcing on a solution with decision and energy,” he wrote, “whilst the Government appears to be helplessly drifting with the current of events.” Many felt Seward, not Lincoln, was the most powerful man in government. Indeed poor Major Anderson, besieged at Fort Sumter, received no advice nor updates from Washington. Meanwhile the southerners brought up artillery to fire on Sumter from six directions and to prevent Union resupply or reinforcement from the sea. Larson chronicles the efforts Anderson and his men made to hold out, but the bombardment over many days and the lack of provisions eventually required them to surrender and evacuate the fort. The next day Lincoln issued a proclamation to put down the rebellion and reassert the authority of U.S. law. There are other characters in the book that enliven and help recreate the social atmosphere and white-hot rhetoric of the South at the time, among whom is Mary Chestnut who is portrayed much less kindly by Larson than in Ken Burns’ civil war series. This is a book worth reading, as it captures the uncertainties of the period and provokes the modern reader to think about how our institutions can be swept away by widespread, unthinking passion. Indeed, the lessons seem pertinent at the time of writing this review as we approach the presidential vote of 2024.

Great read. My first of this Author. He got off with a rocky start with me comparing preCivil War period with J6 entrapments. Turns out, despite his misguided politics, I enjoyed his writing style and learned somethings I did not know about the pre-war period from Lincoln’s election to the surrender of Fort Sumter. He uses Drew Gilpin Faust as a source for much of the history of Plantation owner and secessionist Hammond. I had just read her book This Republican of Suffering. It too was a first of her books I have read. For me the book flowed well with its chronological order. I learned just how much of a mess Buchanan left Lincoln in, and how much of a coward he was. He couldn’t get out of office soon enough. I was aware of Anderson’s courage, and difficulty of getting no support from Buchanan, and very little guidance and communication from Lincoln. Lincoln had his hands full at the time. I was not surprised to learn the ordeal of Ft Sumter had taken a terrible toll on Anderson. I don’t remember reading about that before, or if I did I must have been expecting such. You couldn’t help but feel sorry for the Major. He was literally caught between a rock and a hard place. And he had way more responsibilities dumped on him than his pay-grade qualified him for, nor any authority for him to set policy. The mail delays made his position just that much more dangerous and intolerable. In the end, he did his duty as best as he could with honor, and in doing so gained the respect of both the North and South. Truly, it is miraculous that there were no combat deaths at Sumpter, or the forts in Charleston Harbor. My wife and I have visited Ft. Sumter. It is humbling to imagine the bombardment Anderson and his garrison endured. While at the same time with little rest, and on reduced rations. Fire brand Edmund Ruffin’s suicide at the end of the story seemed like justice served to me. He was in large part responsible for promoting secession and the war. He took such pleasure in his hatred of the Yankees, even to his last breath he cursed them. After the Confederacy lost, the Northerners hated him just as much for having promoted it so tirelessly. He died just as he lived, filled with hatred to the end. I found it very interesting that the British Newspaperman William Russel understood the deep hatred the southern chivalry had for the North, and how naive the Lincoln administration, especially Seward in his belief that the southern chivalry were not serious about secession leading to war, and that Virginia, Tennessee and Arkansas would not join the Confederate States that had already seceded. Seward was a poor choice for Lincoln. His hubris in part only ensured that secession would lead to war. Ironic the Britt could see this, but many in the US couldn’t understand the honor code of the southern planters. In my humble opinion, the Dred Scott SCOTUS ruling really put the country on the course for war. One of the worst decisions ever handed out by SCOTUS, Roe vs Wade was almost as bad, and for similar reasons. The undervaluing of human life. And exempting a class of people from the very life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness guaranteed by our Constitution.

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!

The initial premise was intriguing; the facts underlying the initial salvos of the Civil War in the US as they were at Ft. Sumter. And, that was what the first few chapters dealt with, and it was done very well. However, without ever tying up how the initial union strikes, and what was experienced within the fort, happened was left to our imaginations. Because, the author then segues to the cultural and political shifts happening between the two sides, and then to what the southern slave-labor based culture and economy experienced as a result of the ensuing civil war. While the writing on that subject was truly fascinating we never got to hear about what actually happened at Ft. Sumter. I hate to be crude, but it was kind of like a compilation of porn videos without any 'money shots', which was weird.

I am a longtime Larson fan and this book is as good as his others. It is a fascinating window into what for me was always sort of handwaved quickly away in school.

Amazing historical writing. Solid research. A marvelous read about the tinder box atmosphere in the South at the start of the Civil War. A must for any Civil War buff.

In this work the author seeks to work through the events that led up to the Civil War from both a Northern and Southern perspective. He covers many of the primary characters from before Lincoln was elected up until the surrender of Fort Sumter in April 1861. He shows that a number of factors helped lead to these events, focusing in particular on the push for secession in the South. Unfortunately, he barely touches on the abolitionist movement, in particular John Brown's raid, that pushed the South to fear Northern action and therefore push it further towards secession. He shows that the inaction of Buchannan, as well as the silence of Lincoln after his election, led to a vacuum in which Southern fears were increased, and secession looked to Southern eyes as the only way forward. And, in the middle of it all, was Major Anderson and his men in Fort Sumter who were not helped by either Buchannan or Lincoln, but, in Anderson's perspective, left alone and abandoned to their fate. In a fascinating piece of writing, he describes the bombardment of Sumter, as well as its eventual, and inevitable, surrender. And, in a statement the author repeats on numerous occasions, much of this occurred because Lincoln in particular, and the North in general, did not understand the South, because northerners rarely visited the South, while Southerners regularly visited the North, and were therefore fully cognizant of Northern views, values, and attitudes. And, finally, the author shows that it was only after Lincoln called out the troops to "quell the rebellion" that Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas voted to secede from the Union, for they refused to supply troops to fight against their fellow southerners, while Kentucky, although not seceding, also refused to supply troops. And it was the secession of Virginia that led to the resignation of Robert E. Lee, who ultimately became General of the Army of Northern Virginia. One can only speculate what would have happened if that order had not been given, or if Sumter had been evacuated earlier. Would these states have seceded? Would the Confederacy have collapsed when the realities of nationhood, and the submission to a central government, hit these states? Would three quarters of a million people not been killed? What would have happened . . . if?

Sehr gut geschrieben, spannend, auch wenn man den Ausgang kennt.

Larson does a great job of developing the history of Lincoln’s first election, the transfer of power issues and the beginnings of secession as well as the depth of slavery in the South and the history of the focal point that was Ft. Sumter and the beginnings of the civil war. Larson is an excellent writer and this is on par with his other works.

I've loved all of Erik Larson's books, and had great expectations for this one, but it's a let-down. While understanding that there are Civil War aficionados who drool over the tiniest details of that historic event, but to anyone else, it's incredibly tedious. It's as if it was written solely for that niche of Civil War fans and nobody else. Larson is great at bringing history to life, especially pockets of history unknown and undiscovered by most, but this one left me cold. It's simply not interesting. Let's hope he can lift his game for next time.