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The Demon of Unrest: Abraham Lincoln & Americas Road to Civil War
The Demon of Unrest: Abraham Lincoln & Americas Road to Civil War | Erik Larson
19 posts | 15 read | 16 to read
The internationally bestselling 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 Wara slow-burning crisis that finally tore a deeply divided nation in two.
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NikkiCureton
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Pickpick

Erik Larson is must-read! This book presents history in an extremely accessible and compelling way. The details are important and timely often drawing parallels to current events.

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OrangeMooseReads
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Mehso-so

Civil War era isn‘t my jam. Larson takes on what led up to the first shots being fired at Fort Sumter which then kicked off the actual battles of the Civil War. There was what felt like a lot of unnecessary details and side bits being told.
It has a very different feel to it from any of Larson‘s other books. I got through it and it had interesting information.
3⭐️ if you are into Civil War era or Lincoln.
This wasn‘t for me.

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OrangeMooseReads
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Start this audio a few days ago. I have to take it in chunks. It feels different than some of Larson‘s earlier works. This one doesn‘t have that fictional feel to it, it feels like the nonfiction that it is. Civil War era isn‘t my jam normally, however Larson is a must read on my list.
So far so good and interesting.
I‘m hoping to finish it tomorrow or Wednesday, I‘ve got about 6.5 hrs left.

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Susanita
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I‘m waiting impatiently to get this back from Libby so I can finish it. #gray #coverlove

Eggs Perfect 🩶 🔥 🩶 4mo
38 likes1 comment
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EadieB
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Pickpick

#TheDemonOfUnrest #ErikLarson #BookSpinBingo #SeriesLove2024 #July2024

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.

EadieB 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.”
I enjoyed reading the account of Lincoln's election and the first five months of the Civil War. I have read every book by Erik Larson and have enjoyed them all. It was a fascinating book and showed how much Lincoln tried to stop the war from happening but was not successful at all.
4mo
EadieB Last May, I visited Charleston and took a tour of the city so I knew about all the places of interest and enjoyed reading about them too. I am now looking forward to the next Erik Larson book as I do love his writing. If you love history then you would love to read this book. Highly recommended! 4mo
TheSpineView Great job! 4mo
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Suet624 Larson does a great job with his books. 4mo
DieAReader 🥳Great! 4mo
TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! 4mo
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MonicaLoves2Read
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Pickpick

Erik Larson can write the best nonfiction books. I learned so many things about the war for Fort Sumter.

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catiewithac
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Pickpick

Pros: 1) short chapters 2) excellent primary sources 3) varied personal accounts and perspectives. Cons: 1) way too long; needed better editing 2) unnecessarily extended section about Lincoln‘s train journey to D.C. 3) for all the protraction, the ending felt rushed. #BOTM (Background: insanely difficult puzzle of Paul Klee painting) 🔥 💣 ⚔️

AmyG Nice puzzle but yes, looks very hard. 5mo
dabbe I think sometimes Larson gets caught up too much in his research! 😂 And wow! What a puzzle! 💙🇺🇸❤️ 5mo
MemoirsForMe Wow! Beautiful puzzle! ❤️ 4mo
62 likes3 comments
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britt_brooke
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Mehso-so

⭐️⭐️⭐️ I‘m usually a big fan of narrative nonfiction, but my attention really waned here. Chronicling the months leading up to Fort Sumter, it‘s an integral part of US history, our successes and missteps. Such an interesting topic, but there‘s a point when mundane details become filler. Just get on with it! Not bad by any means, but Larson just isn‘t for me. I‘ve read his HH Holmes one and didn‘t love it either.

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Amiable
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I couldn‘t choose just one NONFICTION for May —so I picked two! The tagged book for the May slot, and “The Wide Wide Sea” for the wildcard bonus slot. Which also advances to the quarterfinals by taking out the April winner. This bracket may be the most interesting race of the year!

#2024ReadingBrackets

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AmyK1
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Pickpick

Erik Larson is one of my favorite nonfiction authors-I have loved every book I‘ve read by him. He used letters, diaries and other documents to show both sides leading up to the start of the Civil War. I learned a lot and now want to make another trip to Fort Sumter. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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marleed
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Putting this together and I realize it‘s my first grid since Feb where I own more print copies of the books than ebook or audio. Tagged my favorite!

5* = Loved It, want to shout out loud about this book! I do/will own/keep a physical copy. A+
4*= I liked it, would love to discuss. Solid B
3*=Meh, no need to discuss. Avg C
2*=Nope D
1*=DNF F

MemoirsForMe Loved Redhead! 6mo
Suet624 Great reads! 6mo
68 likes2 comments
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Susanita
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1. Ten years ago next month, I went to the local branch for the grand reopening after a renovation. This was possible because a new community center had been completed, and some of its functions had been occupying part of the library building.
2. Mostly the library by way of Libby, but I like to visit in person too.
3. Tagged book came off hold, and instead of deferring it I downloaded it to read!
#wondrouswednesday

Susanita To bring it full circle, since retiring I‘ve been spending more time at the community center too. 6mo
Eggs I‘m listening to Demon too. Thanks for joining in 🤗 6mo
30 likes2 comments
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Amiable
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Pickpick

Excellent account of the months leading up to April 12, 1861, when the first shells were launched by Confederate forces on Fort Sumter and the U.S. Civil War began. Larson draws on diaries and various narratives from both sides to show how they danced warily around each other until the inevitable clash. I was most fascinated by the parts about Lincoln‘s preparations for his arrival into DC for his inauguration.

Karisimo I'm halfway through it right now! I like how the intro encouraged readers to forget they know the outcome and view it as the people of the day would have. 6mo
Amiable @Karisimo Yes! I was also amazed that Larson could maintain a sense of tension throughout the book when we do all know how it ends. And also -- it's fascinating to see how much circling around and “nothingness“ happened in the months leading up to the attack. Makes you really think about how wars start and what the final straw is that nudges the parties over that final cliff to the land of no return. (edited) 6mo
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SilversReviews
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GIVEAWAY - head over to this link for the giveaway on Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/C63oUuVrTBB/?igsh=MXZ0NzF0bmNqczU5ZA==

Bklover Ooh love his books!! 6mo
SilversReviews @Bklover Are you on Instagram? Hope so. It‘s a friend‘s giveaway. I see you entered. She has a note that you need to follow. Might want to check back. (edited) 6mo
Bklover I am- thanks- I‘ll go check. 😊 (fixed it- thank you! I thought I already followed her.) You‘re the best!!🌸 (edited) 6mo
29 likes4 comments
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marleed
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Pickpick

In my bits of studying the politics leading up to the American Civil War I momentarily memorized enough names and dates to pass the subsequent test, but no interest beyond a course. This book was fascinating- S Carolina was the Mc. Now I‘ll remember beyond Abraham Lincoln and Robert E Lee. I‘m intrigued if the next time I reading/watching Civil War material, I‘ll be like …oh yeah, Seward, Ruffin, Beauregard, Anderson… I know about them.

AmandaBlaze I listened to his ghost story No One Goes Alone and really enjoyed it. 6mo
Ruthiella I remember so much more when there is a narrative around historical events that if I were to read straight history. 👍 6mo
RamsFan1963 Have you read Brad Meltzer's The Lincoln Conspiracy or Doris Kearns Goodwin's Team of Rivals? Both books dovetail nicely into Larson's story. 6mo
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marleed @AmandaBlaze I‘ve not read that one yet! 6mo
marleed @Ruthiella You and me both! 6mo
marleed @RamsFan1963 I haven‘t and thank you. I‘d like to read more on this aspect now. 6mo
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RamsFan1963
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Pickpick

47/150 I'm not sure if giving this 5 🌟 is enough praise for this amazing, exciting, thought provoking, and emotional story. Dead Wake is my favorite Larson book, but this is a close second. Drawing from both the Confederate and Union sides, Larson weaves a thrilling drama of the battle of Fort Sumter, which lead to the American Civil War. Unrealistically, neither side thought it would lead to war, and if it did, it would be short ⬇️⬇️

RamsFan1963 with little loss of life. Of course, now we know that they couldn't have been more wrong, as the war was the bloodiest in American history. I chose to do the audiobook, and it was narrated very well by Will Patton, his voice added gravitas to the story. I do have one quibble. There was some censorship which I found odd, considering this is a history of the Civil War, every time someone used the N-word it was bleeped out. 7mo
RamsFan1963 Why? In historical context, the word was used quite liberally by Southerners, and Northerners, so why bleep it? Who was it going to offend? Who didn't expect slave owners to speak of their slaves in that manner? 7mo
Lindy I imagine that hearing the N-word is hurtful to certain listeners, even though it is historically accurate. By bleeping it, listeners know exactly what word it is, while at the same time there‘s a reminder for everyone that this word has power and isn‘t to be used lightly. 7mo
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RamsFan1963 @Lindy Maybe so, and had this been fiction I probably wouldn't have noticed or cared. If this was a book about WWII, would you expect them to bleep out slang words for Jews, Germans, Italians or Japanese? I wonder if this is a wholly American thing, expecting American readers to be more sensitive to the word than people in other countries? I'm not condoning the word, but I've never run into it being censored in a non-fiction history book. 7mo
Suet624 Larson really can do no wrong - every book of his is superb. 7mo
marleed @RamsFan1963 @lindy, I‘m reading a physical copy in stereo with the audio. The book writes n—-r when quoting transcript rather than spelling out the slur. Knowing that may give credence to the audio bleep - which is a jarring sound while wearing headphones with the narration. 7mo
Lindy @marleed good to know, thanks 😊 7mo
70 likes4 stack adds7 comments
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Scochrane26
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Just an FYI for the fans of Erik Larson who live near enough to attend. Hosted by Joseph-Beth bookstore in Cincinnati, more info is on their site under events.

marleed I saw him speak about the tagged on the evening 13Mar2020. His wife worked in a NYC hospital. He flew from there to Chicago to a packed auditorium in Kansas City. His airport layover was eerie. It was clear he was concerned (no hand shaking or book signing). I look at my unsigned copy of the tagged on my shelves and always remember that this is when a pandemic got real for me. 7mo
Scochrane26 @marleed That‘s an interesting memory. I hope you were able to enjoy his talk. The last book signing I went to before was Erin Morgenstern & Alix E Harrow, but it was in Jan or Feb of 2020. 7mo
jlhammar So excited for a new Larson! 7mo
23 likes1 stack add3 comments
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Susanita
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1. I‘m going to Malice Domestic at the end of the month! Sujata Massey is the Guest of Honor, so that‘s a good reason to keep reading in the Perveen Mistry series.
2. Not preordered, but I put the tagged book on hold on Libby.
#two4tuesday

TheSpineView Love using Libby. Thanks for playing! 8mo
37 likes1 comment
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RamsFan1963
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The tagged book for sure. Erik Larson is an auto-pick author for me. This is his first book dealing with the American Civil War era, I expecting it to be detailed, well researched, and very informative.

#SundayFunday @BookmarkTavern

AmyG Nice. I love his books. This should be especially interesting considering the climate we live in. (edited) 10mo
BookmarkTavern That sounds really interesting! Thanks for posting! 10mo
46 likes3 stack adds2 comments