How does a guy who swore repeatedly that he would never write about the Civil

War end up writing a book about the Civil War? ERIK LARSON, a master of narrative

nonfiction, will talk about how, contrary to his own conviction, he ended up writing

The Demon of Unrest, his enthralling account of the chaotic months between

Lincoln’s election and the Confederacy’s shelling of Fort Sumter—a period marked

by tragic errors and miscommunications, enflamed egos and craven ambitions,

personal tragedies and betrayals. The book is 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.