Reviews
Praise for The Splendid and the Vile "Fresh, fast and deeply moving." --Candice Millard, The New York Times Book Review "An enthralling page-turner." -- O: The Oprah Magazine "[An] affecting and affectionate chronicle of the Churchill family during the Blitz." --The Boston Globe "A damn good story. There are narrative arcs, heroes, villains, and suspense aplenty." -- Rolling Stone In the Garden of Beasts "Powerful, poignant . . . a transportingly true story." -- The New York Times "Reads like an elegant thriller . . . utterly compelling . . . marvelous stuff." -- The Washington Post "Harrowingly suspenseful." -- Vogue The Devil in the White City "[Larson] relentlessly fuses history and entertainment to give this nonfiction book the dramatic effect of a novel. . . . A dynamic, enveloping book." -- The New York Times "Hugely engrossing . . . exceedingly well documented . . . utterly fascinating." -- Chicago Tribune "A thrilling account. Suspenseful, rich in period detail." -- Richmond Times-Dispatch, "Larson, one of today's pre-eminent nonfiction storytellers, trawls a variety of archives to explore the historically momentous months between Abraham Lincoln's election and the Battle of Fort Sumter." --The New York Times "Perhaps no other historian has ever rendered the struggle for Sumter in such authoritative detail as Larson does here. . . . Few historians, too, have done a better job of untangling the web of intrigues and counter-intrigues that helped provoke the eventual attack and surrender." --The Washington Post "It's alarming to read about this divided country going down a similar path more than 150 years ago and, seemingly, learning nothing from it. The immediacy of the story in The Demon of Unrest --as well as on-the-ground reports from inside South Carolina's Fort Sumter, an early Union bulwark--lend the book vigor." --Minneapolis Star Tribune "Even history buffs will find much that is new here. . . . [Larson] brings a welcome novelist's sensibility to his writing. He has an eye for telling details, quick and potent character descriptions and a relentless narrative momentum that starts at a brisk canter on Election Day in 1860 and moves to a full gallop as North and South clash over Fort Sumter and our common future." --The Atlanta Journal-Constitution "Engagingly written and fraught with tension . . . The Demon of Unrest will add to Larson's luster as one of the great historical-nonfiction writers of our time. . . . [A] literary masterwork." -- National Review "Erik Larson's latest book brings new life to an old war. The Demon of Unrest, [his] vivid depiction of the lead-up to the Civil War, is a masterclass in reportage and storytelling." --Garden and Gun "Abraham Lincoln devotees and Larson fans alike will devour this propulsive account of the five months between Lincoln's election and the start of the Civil War. An all-too-prescient tale of tension and tragedy, clashing egos, miscommunication, power, and betrayal." --People "Even diehard Civil War aficionados will learn from Larson's look at the six months between Lincoln's 1860 election and the surrender of Union troops under Maj. Robert Anderson at Charleston's Ft. Sumter. . . . A riveting reexamination of a nation in tumult. " --Los Angeles Times "Twisty and cinematic . . . A mesmerizing and disconcerting look at an era when consensus dissolved into deadly polarization." -- Publishers Weekly (starred review) "Fascinating details, fresh perspectives, and lively writing make this a standout view of the antebellum and Civil War eras." -- Booklist (starred review)
