Journalist and best-selling author Erik Larson joined Midday in May to discuss his most recent book. The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War is a granular look at the five months between the election of Abraham Lincoln in November 1860 and the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter in April 1861.

For Larson, this period is consequential for the subsequent conflict and for the nation's trajectory. The book concludes where the war begins; The bombardment of the Union fort in South Carolina.

6 of Larson’s previous 8 books have become New York Times best-sellers, and his subject matter ranges widely. In The Devil in the White City, he wrote about the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair and was a finalist for the National Book Award.

(This interview originally aired on May 28, 2024)