Just finished Erik Larson's 'The Demon of Unrest' and wow – this isn't your grandpa's Civil War history book. Larson makes 1861 feel as tense and immediate as today's Twitter feed.

The way he zooms in on those crucial six months between Lincoln's election and Fort Sumter is genius. I never realized how much drama was packed into that short period – it's like watching a slow-motion car crash where everyone sees it coming but nobody can stop it.

Major Anderson emerges as this tragic hero – a Southern gentleman loyal to the Union, stuck holding the bag at Fort Sumter while Washington basically ghosts him. The scenes where he's begging for supplies and orders had me yelling at the book like it was a bad horror movie ('Just send help already!').

And Edmund Ruffin? This guy was basically the OG internet troll of his day – traveling around stirring up secessionist drama wherever he could find an audience. The fact that he got to fire the first shot at Sumter feels like poetic justice for all his rabble-rousing.

What really got me though were the eerie parallels to today. Reading about electoral college uncertainties in 1861 while remembering January 6th... chills. Larson doesn't hit you over the head with comparisons, but they're impossible to miss.

The writing is classic Larson – detailed but never dry. He makes you smell the gunpowder at Sumter and feel Lincoln's frustration during his powerless lame-duck period. Though fair warning: keep a dictionary handy for some of his word choices (I definitely had to look up 'stilted').

If you think you know everything about the Civil War's start, think again. This book will make you see familiar events in completely new ways – and maybe worry a bit about our current political climate too.