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

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On November 6, 1860, Abraham Lincoln emerged as the unexpected winner in a fiercely contested presidential race. The nation was deeply divided, with Southern extremists pushing towards the destruction of the Union, as states began to secede and Lincoln found himself powerless to intervene. While slavery was at the heart of the conflict, the tensions of North and South converged on Fort Sumter, a solitary federal stronghold in Charleston Harbor. Erik Larson masterfully chronicles the tumultuous months following Lincoln's election, a time fraught with tragic missteps, egos, and personal betrayals. Lincoln himself noted that the challenges of this period were so overwhelming that he could hardly have believed he would survive them. Central to this gripping narrative are Major Robert Anderson, the fort's commander, who is torn between his Southern sympathies and loyalty to the Union; Edmund Ruffin, a radical secessionist; and Mary Boykin Chesnut, who struggles with her views on marriage and slavery. Amidst the chaos, Lincoln grapples with his duplicitous secretary of state, William Seward, in a desperate attempt to prevent an inevitable war that would claim 750,000 lives. Drawing on various historical sources, Larson presents a political horror story that highlights how easily a nation can approach catastrophe without recognizing the signs.