The Demon of Unrest

A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War

De: Erik Larson

Narrado por: Will Patton, Erik Larson

#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.

©2024 Crown (P)2024 Random House Audio

Reseñas de la Crítica

“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

“A feast of historical insight and narrative verve . . . Larson’s great gift is his uncanny ability to spin a chronological story whose ending we already know—secession, rebellion, victory, emancipation and assassination—yet keep the narrative as crisp and suspenseful as an Anthony Horowitz suspense novel. . . . This is Erik Larson at his best, enlivening even a thrice-told tale into an irresistible thriller.”—The Wall Street Journal

Excellent Book!

1st - give the book a chance to warm up. It does so quickly.

2nd - I sped up the narration a bit and it made a workd of difference. I personally like the narrator for fiction normally, but he did a good job with the content.

Hubris to Devastation

EL is an excellent writer, story teller, chaser of historical moments that echo forever forward.

What goes around comes around

Very listenable history text for someone who doesn’t like history books much!
I heard so many parallels to today’s culture of fear mongering and do all for the rich(slave owners) who were in the minority of population but wielded so much hate and racism.
Way to go Erik! Wonderful extension of my understanding of the not so civil war.

great book, bad publisher

great book and narration. my only issue is with the publishers decision to censor racial slurs. while I understand the idea behind it and see it's need to be confronted in modern use, this should not be the case with historical books. The reason I strongly disagree with this decision is that the book is trying to convey the despicable historical usage of the n word and it is meant to shock the reader with its cruel usage.

The extensive detailed recitation of the facts at the start of war; which could have but never did became tedious.

Excellent narration from a reader with an interesting subtle voice. An excellent book for those with either extensive or little knowledge of Lincoln’s election and the start of the war.

Superb!

An excellent and thoroughly entertaining and informative account of the lead up to the Civil War. Superb!

Good research and inside emotion

Obviously a great writer but I listened on audible and at least for me the narrator wasn’t the best choice . Seems the narrator by voice style was trying to match times distraction period which for me was a distraction . Do we talk and listen like that time period !!!

The facts I never knew!

I read every word, so much info and so accessible! I seldom do long books but this one is something special!

A compelling but repetitive story.

The reader is fantastic. He does a wonderful job of using a slightly different voice to each character to give them a distinct feel. The story is interesting but it is repetitive. There are no twists, so there is little drama. We know Fort Sumter will be attacked and there will be a civil war, so the dozens upon dozens of personal accounts from the north that there could not be war do not create suspense as much as they make the persons seem naive in retrospect. And yet so much of the middle of the book focuses on building by suspense over “will they or won’t they” fight, or “will Lincoln be assassinated” which necessarily falls a little flat. Paragraphs are devoted to things that should have been mere passing references. The book should have been broader in scope to compensate. I would loved to have learned more about Robert E Lee, Jefferson Davis, and the motivations of the southern leaders who wanted to secede, and why. It is worth listening to (or reading) but it is not Larson’s best work. The audiobook performance is stellar, however.

Eerily relevant to today

Striking parallels between these events and what is happening now. The perils of political indifference to the undermining of our democracy and the price the country pays for this divisiveness, as well as the weakness of our elected officials to stand up to defend what’s right. Narrator Will Patton was perfect for reading this book. I always learn so much from Erik Larson's books.