Name: The Demon of Unrest with Erik Larson and Barbara McQuade
Start: 2026-03-10T18:30:00-04:00
Location: Schuler Books (West Bloomfield)

The Demon of Unrest with Erik Larson and Barbara McQuade

We are so excited to welcome Erik Larson to our West Bloomfield location for the paperback tour of The Demon of Unrest. Erik will be in conversation with author Barbara McQuade.
As you prepare for a great night, here are a few extra notes to keep in mind:
Seating is limited for this event. Attendees with accessibility needs will be guaranteed a seat, otherwise, seating is first-come-first-serve.
Erik Larson will pre-sign The Demon of Unrest, and every attendee is guaranteed a signed copy. You will receive your signed copy when you check in your ticket.
This event will begin with a book discussion, followed by an audience Q&A, and will wrap up with a signing line.
Attendees can bring as many of their favorite Erik Larson books from home as they’d like, and we will also have extra copies available at the event.
Please note that 1 ticket = 1 attendee. There are two exceptions to this policy: attendees with children younger than 10 and attendees with caregivers.
If you cannot find your ticket in your inbox, please check your spam folder and any other email inboxes that you have before reaching out.
Ticket check-in begins as early as 5:15pm on the day of the event.
We love seeing who is planning to join us! Tickets are required to attend this event. Your ticket includes a purchase of The Demon of Unrest, which will be available for pickup at the event. Grab your tickets here: https://events.humanitix.com/erik-larson-and-barbara-mcquade-sbwb
About the Book:
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The author of The Splendid and the Vile brings to life the pivotal five months between the election of Abraham Lincoln and the start of the Civil War in this “riveting reexamination of a nation in tumult” (Los Angeles Times).
“A feast of historical insight and narrative verve . . . This is Erik Larson at his best, enlivening even a thrice-told tale into an irresistible thriller.”—The Wall Street Journal
A PARADE BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
On November 6, 1860, Abraham Lincoln became the fluky victor in a tight race for president. The country was bitterly at odds; Southern extremists were moving ever closer to destroying the Union, with one state after another seceding and Lincoln powerless to stop them. Slavery fueled the conflict, but somehow the passions of North and South came to focus on a lonely federal fortress in Charleston Harbor: Fort Sumter.
Master storyteller Erik Larson offers a gripping account of the chaotic months between Lincoln’s election and the Confederacy’s shelling of Sumter—a period marked by tragic errors and miscommunications, enflamed egos and craven ambitions, personal tragedies and betrayals. Lincoln himself wrote that the trials of these five months were “so great that, could I have anticipated them, I would not have believed it possible to survive them.”
At the heart of this suspense-filled narrative are Major Robert Anderson, Sumter’s commander and a former slave owner sympathetic to the South but loyal to the Union; Edmund Ruffin, a vain and bloodthirsty radical who stirs secessionist ardor at every opportunity; and Mary Boykin Chesnut, wife of a prominent planter, conflicted over both marriage and slavery and seeing parallels between them. In the middle of it all is the overwhelmed Lincoln, battling with his duplicitous secretary of state, William Seward, as he tries desperately to avert a war that he fears is inevitable—one that will eventually K*ll 750,000 Americans.
Drawing on diaries, secret communiques, slave ledgers, and plantation records, Larson gives us a political horror story that captures the forces that led America to the brink—a dark reminder that we often don’t see a cataclysm coming until it’s too late.
About the Author:
Erik Larson is the author of six previous national bestsellers—The Splendid and the Vile, Dead Wake, In the Garden of Beasts, Thunderstruck, The Devil in the White City, and Isaac’s Storm—which have collectively sold more than twelve million copies. His books have been published in nearly forty countries. His latest book, The Demon of Unrest, tells the story of the five months between Lincoln’s election and the start of the Civil War. Erik lives in Manhattan with his wife, who is a writer and retired neonatologist; they have three grown daughters.
About the Conversation Partner:
Barbara McQuade is a professor from practice at the University of Michigan Law School, her alma mater, where she teaches courses in criminal law, criminal procedure, national security, and data privacy. She is also a legal analyst for NBC News and MSNBC, and a co-host of the podcast #SistersInLaw. From 2010 to 2017, McQuade served as U.S Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan. Ms. McQuade was appointed by President Barack Obama, and was the first woman to serve in her position. Earlier in her career, she worked as a sports writer and copy editor, a judicial law clerk, an associate in private practice, and an assistant U.S. attorney. She and her husband have four children and live in Ann Arbor.