The Demon of Unrest, Erik Larson

 

The Demon of Unrest:  A saga of hubris, heartbreak, and heroism at the dawn of the civil war by Erik Larson

Started: August 10, 2024

Completed: August 15, 2024

Recommendation: Recommended

Recommended By: My mother

Review:

I do enjoy the way that Larson tells a tale.  I also thought I had a good understanding of the start of the Civil War.  I did not.  I thought I had a thorough understanding of Lincoln's cabinet.  I still learned more.  Larson does a good job of building a vision through a character and then extending that vision to other characters.  Rusk is an excellent example whose life truly follows the story arc.  Having visited the batteries that play a prominent role in this book throughout my childhood (to include a visit to the library now in Fort Moultrie, I could see through my memory the sites described in the book.

The Life of Johnny Reb and The Life of Billy Yank, Bell Irvin Wiley

The Life of Johnny Reb and The Life of Billy Yank by Bell Irvin Wiley is a collection of short descriptions drawn from soldier's letters during the Civil War.

Started:  6/20/2011
Completed:
Recommendation:
Recommended By:  I saw this at a yard sale and thought that it would make for good bathroom reading since the sections were short.
Words I looked up:

embrute -- To degrade or sink to the levels of a brute.
fillip -- Something that acts as a stimulus or boost to an activity.
purlieu -- The area near or surrounding a place
tippling -- Drinking alcohol, especially habitually
vitiating -- Spoil or impair the efficiency of

Review:


I will write one when I'm done.