Demon of Unrest

Sadly, I didn't love this one as much as the last few by Larson. It was still good, just a little disappointing. It felt like he was really reaching at times. 

Larson looks back at Fort Sumter and how the Civil War officially began. He describes events leading up to Lincoln's election, how the North and South started splitting apart long before 1860. President Buchanan, who preceded Lincoln, had a few opportunities to do something and instead decided to ignore the turmoil and let the new guy deal with it. Which he did, of course, and quite well. The most striking figure in the story is Major Anderson, who held the fort against all odds. It was, without a doubt, one of the saddest stories I've read, knowing the outcome and how many lives were lost. It was a shame that the South couldn't be persuaded to peaceably free the ones they'd enslaved.