Erik Larson — The Demon of Unrest
Erik Larson reconstructs the five months between Lincoln's election and Fort Sumter — the period when the Civil War became inevitable.
Why we picked this
Larson at his best reconstructs the texture of pivotal moments in ways that make them feel genuinely contingent. The months before Fort Sumter are exactly the kind of hinge he excels at.
Erik Larson’s “The Demon of Unrest” reconstructs the five months between Abraham Lincoln’s election in November 1860 and the Confederate bombardment of Fort Sumter in April 1861 — the period when secession hardened from threat into reality and civil war became unavoidable. Drawing on diaries, letters, and dispatches from the principals, Larson renders the period with the granular detail that has become his signature.
Larson is the author of six consecutive number-one New York Times bestsellers, including “The Devil in the White City,” “Dead Wake,” and “The Splendid and the Vile.” His method — exhaustive archival research rendered as propulsive narrative — has made him the defining practitioner of narrative nonfiction in America. “The Demon of Unrest” applies that method to one of the most consequential intervals in American history.
The event is held at Sixth & I, a historic synagogue in Washington that has become one of the city’s premier venues for authors and ideas. Tickets are required.