Journalist and best-selling author Erik Larson joins Midday to discuss his latest book on the years leading up to the U.S. Civil War.

The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War is a granular look at the events taking place in the five months between the election of Abraham Lincoln in November 1860 and the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter in April 1861. The bombardment of the Union fort in South Carolina marked the beginning of the war.

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. He also authored histories of Winston Churchill, the final crossing of the Lusitania and the first ambassador to Nazi Germany.