The Demon of Unrest: An Evening with Erik Larson

Magic City Books is proud to welcome bestselling author Erik Larson for a special event in celebration of his new book, The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War on Friday May 17, 2024 at 7:00 pm. This ticketed event will take place at the Cascia Hall Performing Arts Center, 2520 S. Yorktown Ave.

This is a ticketed event, each ticket comes with one (1) hardcover copy of The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War by Erik Larson ($35 value) and one (1) seat at the event on May17.

In The Demon of Unrest, Larson 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.

Tickets go on sale Friday February 9. The Demon of Unrest will be published by Crown Publishing Group on April 30. Ticket holders will be able to pick up their unsigned copy of the book at Magic City Books starting April 30. Pre-signed books will be available for pickup at the event on May 17th.

At the conclusion of the program, Erik will sign and personalize copies of The Demon of Unrest. Guests that pick up their book in advance will not be able to swap out for a signed copy at the event.

All tickets include a copy of the book, there is a limit of four tickets per transaction. Please provide the full name and email address of each ticket holder so that all event notifications and information can be sent to all attendees.

If you have a ticket and are unable to attend the event, you will be able to pick up your book at Magic City Books during normal business hours. The last day for ticket holders to pick up The Demon of Unrest by Erik Larson is Friday, June 28, 2024. We will make an effort to have signed books available for pick up but can not guarantee a signed copy.

About The Demon of Unrest

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.

Erik Larson is the author of six previous national bestsellers-- The Splendid and the Vile, Dead Wake, In the Garden of Beasts, Thunderstruck, The Devil in the White City, and Isaac's Storm--which have collectively sold more than ten million copies. His books have been published in nearly twenty countries.