Before reading this title, I was roughly aware of the facts about the time between Lincoln's election and the shelling of Fort Sumter. To whit, the South didn't like the results. of the election and there was so much anger in the slave states that Lincoln had to disguise himself to complete his train journey to Washington to take the oath of office. Then, within a few months, Sumter was shelled, and the Union forces left quietly. There are mountains of gaps in this story, and Erik Larson is just the author to fill them in. Along with Candice Millard, he is someone who can write about history that is fairly well known and turn it into a page-turning adventure.
Larson paints Lincoln as someone who needed to grow quite a bit to cope with unimaginable levels of danger at this juncture of American history. Fortunately he did. Along the way, there is a rich cast of characters - Mary Chesnut, whose diaries painted a detailed view of the Southern perspective, The others include, the rich and handsome planter, politician and rogue Richard Manning, Edmund Ruffin a secessionist firebrand who was given the "honor" of firing the first cannon shot against the fort, and Frances Pickens, South Carolina governor, who tried to honorably work with the Union commander Anderson to broker out a bloodless solution to the confrontation.
I had always imagined that the battle was over in a matter of hours, but the truth is that the Union troops fired back bravely for more than a day. This book should be a regular for book discussion groups because it contains considerable information about why the Southerners were so angry. Slavery was the bedrock of their economy and they were afraid that Lincoln would free the slaves. Many people today seem confused on this point, and Larson's book will set the record straight for those capable of learning the truth. Larson has turned in another great and illuminating read.
Reviewed by Terry Ballard
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