Pulse en una miniatura para ir a Google Books.
Cargando... The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War (edición 2024)por Erik Larson (Autor)
Información de la obraThe Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War por Erik Larson
Ninguno Cargando...
Inscríbete en LibraryThing para averiguar si este libro te gustará. Actualmente no hay Conversaciones sobre este libro. Larson illuminates the social and political context in which the southern states began to secede throiugh the lens of the siege of Fort Sumter. ( ) I never like Erik Larson's books as much as I think I will. I can't get immersed in the story when it's told in hundreds of little snippets and constantly bounces from character to character. The narrative is probably structured this way because the author/publisher thinks all readers have the attention span of a gnat, but it is to the story's detriment. Please don’t blame my elementary, high school or college instructors. I’m sure I was taught a ton about the Civil War. Nevertheless, I’ve always felt embarrassingly uninformed about the particulars of this tragic chapter in American history. That’s why I “assigned” myself Larson’s latest work as mandatory summer reading. I wish I could tell you every page of every chapter was a riveting read, but that would make me a purveyor of “fake news.” I’m red-faced to admit that chunks of this meticulously detailed deep-dive into the origins of the Civil War were tedious. “The Demon of Unrest” is undeniably informative and thought-provoking, but at least in the eyes of a reader who has never been a fan of war sagas, it was also a bit of a slog. The author once candidly admitted that his judicious editor paired 40,000 words from his first draft adding, “none of which will ever be missed.” I’m wondering if another 40,000 words could have been left on the cutting room floor. Still, Larson’s impeccable research skills and ability to assemble scores of puzzle pieces into an insightful tale about pre-Civil War politics made “The Demon of Unrest” well worth my time. It was especially interesting to learn more about Abe Lincoln’s early political years and to be introduced to a small army of Civil War-era movers-and-shakers I don’t recall hearing about in the past (Did I ever learn about Mary Chestnut and her revealing Civil War diary?) At the very least, I consider my week-long literary odyssey as long overdue penance for failing to pay adequate attention in my history classes. The Demon of Unrest is an extremely well researched book about the beginnings of the Civil War. It is a different perspective because it is written as a story using documented diaries, letters from people who were instigators, participants and observers of the Civil War. Four stars are given in this review. sin reseñas | añadir una reseña
"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"-- No se han encontrado descripciones de biblioteca. |
Discusiones actualesNingunoCubiertas populares
Google Books — Cargando... GénerosSistema Decimal Melvil (DDC)973.7311History and Geography North America United States Administration of Abraham Lincoln, 1861-1865 Civil War Operations Campaign of 1861 Operations in Charleston harbor, S. C. (20 Dec. 1860-14 Ap. 1861)Clasificación de la Biblioteca del CongresoValoraciónPromedio:
¿Eres tú?Conviértete en un Autor de LibraryThing. |