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Erik Larson, The Demon of Unrest

  • 21 Main 719 North Beach Boulevard North Myrtle Beach, SC, 29582 United States (map)

The #1 New York Times 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 War—a simmering crisis that finally tore a deeply divided nation in two.

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.

A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF THE YEAR: Time, Men’s Health, Lit Hub

Litchfield Books Exclusive Author Event- Erik Larson, "The Demon of Unrest"
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Litchfield Books Exclusive Author Event- Erik Larson, "The Demon of Unrest"
$68.00

#1 NY Times Bestselling Author

*Date: THURSDAY, May 16th 2024

Location: 21 Main Prime Steakhouse -719 North Beach Blvd, North Myrtle Beach, SC 29582

*Time: 10:45AM-1:00PM

Your ticket includes an author presentation, a signed hardcover of the *event book, lunch, dessert, beverages of coffee, tea & water, & admittance to a venue during private hours.

*Couples of the same household may exchange one event book for another title in our bookstore.

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Refund Policy- Thank you for signing up for an event at Litchfield Books! Cards will be charged upon time of ticket purchase. We will refund your ticket, excluding our merchant banker convenience fee and credit card reversal fee. Cancellations are accepted up until seven days prior to the event date. If the cancellation is past the seven days you will not be offered a refund but you will be offered the signed copy of the event book.

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