2024 the best books of history review

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(as of Nov 18, 2024 15:43:29 UTC - Details)

#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

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.

From the Publisher

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Crown; First Edition (April 30, 2024)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 592 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0385348746
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0385348744
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.9 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.44 x 1.35 x 9.5 inches
Reviewer: Tom Weikert
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: An appeal to the better angels of our nature...
Review: At a time when our nation is perilously divided, Erik Larson publishes "The Demon of Unrest" and strikes a note of warning. He authors another winning work of narrative nonfiction detailing the events following the 1860 presidential election that propelled Abraham Lincoln to the White House and ushered in America's cataclysmic descent into civil war. Additionally, he brilliantly animates the famous characters of this period (Buchanan, Lincoln, Seward, and Davis) and lesser names such as Edmund Ruffin, James Hammond, and Mary Chesnut of the Southern planter aristocracy. Strikingly, the latter, products of generational slave ownership and owning as many as 400 slaves, vociferously and unashamedly champion the cause of slavery. Larson’s narrative serves as a cautionary tale, reminding us of the dangers of division and the importance of unity in our current social and political climate.From his extensive research, the author quotes from speeches, letters, diary entries, and other period documents revealing unapologetic pro-slavery sentiment. Through these Southerners' thoughts and comments, we learn just how, like Kudzu, slavery became wildly entwined with Southern culture. No matter how inexplicable or indefensible their position might be today, in the mid-19th century, these Americans believed it was their birthright to continue owning other human beings in the name of tradition and because slavery was so much a part of the Southern culture and rural economy. More importantly, with "The Demon of Unrest," Larson sheds light on how charged the issue of slavery was in the years leading up to Lincoln's election and, therefore, how inevitable secession would become.As always, the author’s character development is first-rate. Perhaps best of all is his treatment of Major Robert Anderson, a career U.S. Army officer and one of the central characters appearing throughout “The Demon of Unrest.” Anderson, the Fort Sumter, South Carolina commander, and gallant American patriot of the first order, became one of the early heroes of this period. We witness his painstaking preparations to fortify Fort Sumter, a U.S. Army garrison and initial Union stronghold, key terrain in the middle of Charleston Harbor and the annals of U.S. history. He and his charges remain alone on an island, steadfastly defending American ideals. Their challenge becomes existential on April 12, 1861, when the Confederates bombard the fort and two days later force its surrender to start the war.Claiming three-quarters of a million lives, the American Civil War, or the War Between the States, was a watershed event, the legacy with which we, as Americans, still live today. In addition to the author’s signature ability to capture the mood of a particular period or incident in history, Larson fans will recognize his trademark emphasis on meticulously mining historical documents to bring the story to life, for instance, capturing seemingly insignificant comments and minor actions of the characters so that we see that they, like us, were fully human. In detailing their activities, Larson transports us to an earlier age during which honor and chivalry in the Antebellum South held sway. Then, negotiations deadlocked, both sides determined not to move off their hardened positions, the nation tilts to war, and we readers have a ringside seat. The author helps us see firsthand how the Civil War, which resulted in more than 600,000 casualties over four years, was virtually a foregone conclusion.Larson writes fluidly but concisely, some chapters only a few pages long, and his sturdy vocabulary challenges readers to be Merriam-Webster-ready. His strength is pacing; he allows events to unfold in a way that captures the reader's attention and holds it transfixed for page after page. Like all his books, “The Demon of Unrest” reads like the story is happening in real-time. Larson achieves his objective; he sounds the alarm that another collapse into chaos is not far-fetched. Unrest in America is mounting.One reads "The Demon of Unrest" with his mouth agape, incredulous that these events happened and could happen again. Worry, anxiety, and fear grip the nation today just as they did in the deeply divided America of 1861. South Carolina, specifically Charleston, became ground zero for American turning on American and friend becoming foe. A charming U.S. city seemingly overnight morphed into a powder keg.Indeed, 1861 brought us a national Hatfield-McCoy moment, the American family riven by disagreement and debate. When considering our shrill and uncompromising public discourse and eroding confidence in U.S. government institutions today, readers of "The Demon of Unrest" can appreciate how easily the situation could devolve into another armed conflict.Above all else, Larson’s "The Demon of Unrest" reminds Americans that we must, in Abraham Lincoln's words, "appeal to the better angels of our nature."

Reviewer: Alicia Dollahan
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Excellent story telling and a worthy time investment
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. I grew up in Pennsylvania, just outside Gettysburg, but have lived in Charleston, SC for over 10 years now and in SC for over 20. I found the author's bias toward southerners - their attitudes toward Yankees (yes, it's still a thing), their idea of honor, their society structure, etc. - all very accurate and very obviously telling. The author made no qualms of making his belief that the Civil War was exclusively based on the protection of slavery well known in the book. However, in Charleston the belief is (still) that they were fighting for State's rights and to protect their way of life, not necessarily to protect their right to own slaves. Larson truly hit the nail on the head with the dichotomy of the war's driving force and couldn't have more accurately captured the attitudes of those times and still now.Fort Sumter was vividly described and easily allowed readers to visualize the site, even for those who have never been here in person. My only negative for the book is that I felt some of the side stories could have been minimized just to keep the focus on the war. Ms. Mary Chestnut's storyline in particular I didn't feel contributed much to the story of Fort Sumter and the start of the Civil War, but would be an excellent basis for any number of spin-off stories about life in that era and/or in Charleston.If I could give this book a 4.5 out of 5, I would. Larson's research was impressive and obviously thorough. My only point deduction comes from the length that I think could have been cleaned up a little bit. Otherwise, this is a very worthy investment of time for history lovers!

Reviewer: Charles Salmans
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Brilliantly Captures the Passions and Uncertainty at the Outbreak of America's Civil War
Review: The Demon of UnrestDemon of Unrest demonstrates that a talented author, in this case Erik Larson, can find something new to say about a historical period that one might think has already been examined from every angle and by brilliant historians.Larson has concentrated on a period of less than six months — from Lincoln’s election on November 6, 1860 to the firing on Fort Sumpter in the harbor of Charleston, S.C., on April 12, 1861, its evacuation two days later, and Lincoln’s request of states to provide 75,000 troops to put down the rebellion, issued April 15, 1861.Two characters loom large in Larson’s narrative.The first of these is Major Robert Anderson, Fort Sumter’s commanding officer and a former slave owner from the South who nevertheless is loyal to the Union. He is portrayed sympathetically, as he makes an early decision without orders to abandon the forts on the mainland around Charleston as indefensible and surreptitiously transfers his troops to the fort in the middle of the harbor which is more easily defended. Anderson shows great concern for his troops and makes the best of the limited provisions and inadequate, dilapidated defenses of the fort. As the narrative unfolds, Anderson beseeches his superiors in Washington not only for supplies and reinforcements but also for direction on what he should do. His entreaties are met with silence.Edmund Ruffin is the character the author chooses to portray the rising, irrational passion of southerners to secede. A rabble rouser, Ruffin was frustrated that his efforts to promote secession in Virginia are ineffective. But John Brown’s raid on Harper’s Ferry in 1859 gave Ruffin an opportunity to raise his personal profile as an apostle of disunion. Thwarted by the hesitancy in Virginia, where many dismissed him as a hate-mongering fanatic, and in Kentucky where many favored preservation of the Union, Ruffin transfers his campaign to South Carolina and joins a special convention in Columbia that approves secession. There, and soon after in Charleston, he is feted as a hero. Although without a military background, he attaches himself to the Palmetto Guard, a state militia unit comprising South Carolina aristocracy, and ends up pulling the lanyard to fire the first shot on Fort Sumter.What about Lincoln during this period? Larson does a brilliant job of putting the reader in the moment and recreating the uncertainty and unprecedented nature of the time.Lincoln had the overriding goal of preserving the Union, but he had no experience in Washington and was unfamiliar with the levers of power. Things looked bleak. And in the period between his election and inauguration, Lincoln was powerless. Would Buchanan and General Winfield Scott simply surrender Sumter and other southern forts?Furthermore, Lincoln was uncertain his election would be confirmed in a count of electoral votes — a potential problem that resonates given the attempt on January 6, 2021 to disrupt such a count. The constitutionally mandated final count and certification of the electoral vote was to take place on February 13, 1861. “If the two Houses refuse to meet at all, or meet without quorum of each, where shall we be?” Lincoln wrote. “I think it best for me not to attempt appearing in Washington till the result of that ceremony is known.”As we now know, the count did take place and Lincoln received a majority of electoral votes. But the soon-to-be president was still finding his way. Lincoln asked William Seward, his secretary of state, to review the draft of his inaugural address. Seward, believing himself the only man who understood the situation, edited the draft considerably. Fortunately Lincoln did not take the more controversial changes. In particular, Lincoln ignored Seward’s stilted redraft of the conclusion of the address and personally re-wrote the ending, “laden with reverence and barely suppressed emotion.”Throughout the book, Larson draws on the contemporary observations of a British journalist, William Howard Russell of the Times of London. Russell was struck by the Lincoln administration’s inability to influence events. “Everywhere the Southern leaders are forcing on a solution with decision and energy,” he wrote, “whilst the Government appears to be helplessly drifting with the current of events.” Many felt Seward, not Lincoln, was the most powerful man in government.Indeed poor Major Anderson, besieged at Fort Sumter, received no advice nor updates from Washington. Meanwhile the southerners brought up artillery to fire on Sumter from six directions and to prevent Union resupply or reinforcement from the sea.Larson chronicles the efforts Anderson and his men made to hold out, but the bombardment over many days and the lack of provisions eventually required them to surrender and evacuate the fort. The next day Lincoln issued a proclamation to put down the rebellion and reassert the authority of U.S. law.There are other characters in the book that enliven and help recreate the social atmosphere and white-hot rhetoric of the South at the time, among whom is Mary Chestnut who is portrayed much less kindly by Larson than in Ken Burns’ civil war series.This is a book worth reading, as it captures the uncertainties of the period and provokes the modern reader to think about how our institutions can be swept away by widespread, unthinking passion. Indeed, the lessons seem pertinent at the time of writing this review as we approach the presidential vote of 2024.

Reviewer: Peter W. Smith
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Erik Larson is one of the outstanding authors of current times. His analysis of history and his unique manner of expressing events if truly remarkable.In this book, Larson deals with the deep unrest which permeated the United States at the time of the accession of Abraham Lincoln to the U.S. Presidency.Larson's timing of the retelling of the deep schism in American Society in 1861 is in perfect juxtaposition with the deep unrest in American Society today. The demon is in the details.This is a truly remarkable book!

Reviewer: Hildegard Bockmeyer
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Sehr gut geschrieben, spannend, auch wenn man den Ausgang kennt.

Reviewer: Grantus
Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: I've loved all of Erik Larson's books, and had great expectations for this one, but it's a let-down. While understanding that there are Civil War aficionados who drool over the tiniest details of that historic event, but to anyone else, it's incredibly tedious. It's as if it was written solely for that niche of Civil War fans and nobody else. Larson is great at bringing history to life, especially pockets of history unknown and undiscovered by most, but this one left me cold. It's simply not interesting. Let's hope he can lift his game for next time.

Reviewer: Glen
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Larson does a great job of developing the history of Lincoln’s first election, the transfer of power issues and the beginnings of secession as well as the depth of slavery in the South and the history of the focal point that was Ft. Sumter and the beginnings of the civil war. Larson is an excellent writer and this is on par with his other works.

Reviewer: Rahel S.
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: A passionate writer who makes you fall in love with every single one of his books. This one in particular, though a difficult subject, is brilliantly executed and makes you want to dig deeper and read up on the Civil War.