Book Review: The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War by Erik Larson

Erik Larson is a favorite author among Moon Lake Library’s nonfiction fans. The Devil in the White City, Isaac’s Storm, and The Splendid and the Vile are just a few of Larson’s nonfiction bestsellers. His latest, The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War, explores the lead-up to the American Civil War, as Union troops at Fort Sumter find themselves in the crosshairs of South Carolinians determined to initiate an attack that will trigger war.

The author’s extensive historical research into well known and less familiar characters always makes the past come alive for readers. Demon of Unrest is no exception. Major Robert Anderson, commander of Fort Sumter, recognized his troops’ precarious position but hoped it would not come to a war with the South. He was well known around Charleston, had grown up in Kentucky, and was married to a woman from Georgia. Although Anderson was not an abolitionist, the politics surrounding slavery frustrated him, and he was determined to fulfill his oath to the Union.

Another central figure in The Demon of Unrest is diarist Mary Boykin Chesnut whose husband was a Senator from South Carolina up until secession. Her diaries told the story of the plantation system and the war itself from the perspective of the upper class, though she herself was critical of the slave system that sustained her family’s wealth.

In contrast, “fire-eater” Edmund Ruffin of Virginia was a proponent of slavery and insistent that his home state secede. He is said to have fired the first shot of the war and would eventually commit suicide when the South was forced to surrender. He was a friend of Mary Boykin’s uncle, James Hammond, who as governor of South Carolina became involved in a sex scandal that would cause even citizens of the twenty-first century to blush. Despite the furor over his private life, he would later become a Senator himself, until he too resigned in the lead-up to secession.

Larson has a gift for striking a balance between military and biographical history so that readers who are less knowledgeable about military strategy can grasp the essentials and stay engaged. Historians have described “the fog of war,” and readers will discover many examples of how uncertainty and miscommunication played a role in the events of the attack on Fort Sumter. It was impossible not to reflect how American history might look very different if nineteenth century elected officials and military officers had had access to telephones and email! The relatively small battle of Fort Sumter would loom large in our history, and Larson’s account of the people, places, and circumstances involved in it shines a spotlight on many of its lesser known aspects.

The Demon of Unrest is available for checkout at Moon Lake Library.