Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live in the United States in the lead up to the Civil War?

If so, read Demon of Unrest by Erik Larson, which chronicles the events between the election of Abraham Lincoln to the first shots of the Civil War Ft. Sumter.

Larson absolutely owns thriller non-fiction, a genre that he practically created by himself. He takes actual events and weaves them as if they were a pulse pounding thriller, excepts its not fiction. It's all real. All the quotes are true.

This book makes it seems like you are sitting with Abe Lincoln as he decides what to do relating to Ft. Sumter, the federal fort in Charleston's harbor.

You will experience the anxiety felt by the Ft. Sumter commander, Robert Anderson as he decided how he aggressively, he should act after receiving ambiguous orders from Washington. What should he do? How aggressively should he act?

Whoa, place this book on your summer reading list!!