As far as Civil War books are concerned, this one is unique in the sense that it spends most of its pages discussing and describing the social and political climate that led to the start of the conflict - the siege and attack on Fort Sumter. I knew very little about this period of time, so I found the material very eye-opening, more so after reading that Larson started research on this book after the attack on the Capitol on January 6th...

The title, "The Demon of Unrest", is a term that Larson pulled from one of the materials written during this period, which referred to a feeling of social and economic angst against the march of progress as symbolized by the locomotive; the Northern industrial might steadily chugging its way into the agrarian South, railroading the feudal status quo of "The Chivalry".

Highly recommended.