Sources and Acknowl­edg­ments is an impor­tant sec­tion of The Demon of Unrest, where the author delves into the research process and the indi­vid­u­als who con­tributed to the devel­op­ment of the book. The jour­ney began in ear­ly 2020, amidst the glob­al upheaval of the COVID pan­dem­ic. At this time, the author became deeply inter­est­ed in the Civ­il War, espe­cial­ly the piv­otal events at Fort Sumter. The social and polit­i­cal unrest caused by the pan­dem­ic made the author ques­tion the ori­gins of the war and prompt­ed a shift from his usu­al research meth­ods. Due to the pan­demic’s restric­tions, tra­di­tion­al access to archives was lim­it­ed, forc­ing the author to rely on online resources and dig­i­tal archives to dis­cov­er the sto­ries that would shape his nar­ra­tive. This marked the begin­ning of an in-depth explo­ration that would con­tin­ue through­out the writ­ing of the book.

One of the key dis­cov­er­ies dur­ing this research was The War of the Rebel­lion: A Com­pi­la­tion of the Offi­cial Records of the Union and Con­fed­er­ate Armies. This invalu­able resource pro­vid­ed the author with pri­ma­ry source doc­u­ments, includ­ing bat­tle reports, per­son­al let­ters, and offi­cial records, which allowed for a clear­er under­stand­ing of the his­tor­i­cal con­text sur­round­ing the Civ­il War. Through these doc­u­ments, the author was able to recon­struct the events lead­ing to the con­flict with a lev­el of detail that had not been pre­vi­ous­ly acces­si­ble. Addi­tion­al­ly, after the pan­dem­ic sub­sided, the author vis­it­ed Charleston, where he had the oppor­tu­ni­ty to exam­ine first­hand accounts of the hard­ships of slav­ery. Doc­u­ments such as lists of enslaved indi­vid­u­als and adver­tise­ments for slave auc­tions were cru­cial in shed­ding light on the deep-root­ed soci­etal issues that fueled the war, mak­ing the his­to­ry feel more imme­di­ate and per­son­al.

The research process didn’t stop there; it also includ­ed an explo­ration of oth­er sig­nif­i­cant col­lec­tions, notably the Library of Con­gress, which hous­es an exten­sive archive of papers from his­tor­i­cal fig­ures like Major Robert Ander­son and oth­er key play­ers in the Civ­il War. The author also took advan­tage of dig­i­tal archives that focused on the writ­ings of Abra­ham Lin­coln, gain­ing access to doc­u­ments that pro­vid­ed impor­tant insights into the polit­i­cal land­scape of the time. Along with these pri­ma­ry sources, the author turned to sec­ondary sources, such as James M. McPherson’s Bat­tle Cry of Free­dom and Doris Kearns Goodwin’s Team of Rivals. These works pro­vid­ed crit­i­cal analy­sis and his­tor­i­cal con­text, help­ing the author to build a com­pre­hen­sive nar­ra­tive of the Civ­il War from both a mil­i­tary and a polit­i­cal per­spec­tive. The com­bi­na­tion of pri­ma­ry and sec­ondary sources allowed the author to view the war from mul­ti­ple angles, deep­en­ing his under­stand­ing and strength­en­ing the over­all nar­ra­tive.

The author is deeply grate­ful for the con­tri­bu­tions of sev­er­al indi­vid­u­als who helped shape the final prod­uct. His wife and edi­tor, Aman­da Cook, played a cru­cial role in refin­ing the man­u­script. Her feed­back and thought­ful sug­ges­tions helped to sharp­en the book’s nar­ra­tive and ensure that it remained focused and engag­ing. Addi­tion­al­ly, the author acknowl­edges the sup­port of pub­li­cists, friends, and col­leagues who assist­ed in the writ­ing, mar­ket­ing, and dis­tri­b­u­tion of the book. Their col­lec­tive efforts ensured that the book reached a wider audi­ence, mak­ing it avail­able to read­ers who might not have oth­er­wise encoun­tered it. This sup­port allowed the project to stay true to its orig­i­nal vision while also being pro­fes­sion­al­ly pol­ished for pub­li­ca­tion.

Through­out the writ­ing process, the author’s reflec­tions reveal that the cre­ation of The Demon of Unrest was not only an aca­d­e­m­ic pur­suit but also a deeply per­son­al jour­ney. The research process, which involved unearthing lost nar­ra­tives from the past, became a way for the author to con­nect with the his­to­ry of the Civ­il War on an emo­tion­al lev­el. It was a process of both dis­cov­ery and reflec­tion, shaped by the sup­port of those around him. The final prod­uct is a work that com­bines schol­ar­ly research with per­son­al insights, offer­ing a com­pelling nar­ra­tive that is both infor­ma­tive and emo­tion­al­ly engag­ing. The author’s abil­i­ty to weave togeth­er his­tor­i­cal facts with per­son­al anec­dotes cre­ates a mul­ti­fac­eted sto­ry that engages read­ers on an intel­lec­tu­al and emo­tion­al lev­el, invit­ing them to explore the com­plex­i­ties of the Civ­il War and its impact on Amer­i­can soci­ety.

The inclu­sion of both pri­ma­ry and sec­ondary sources in The Demon of Unrest ensures that the work is not only aca­d­e­m­i­cal­ly rig­or­ous but also acces­si­ble to a broad audi­ence. The bib­li­og­ra­phy of sources reflects the depth of the research under­tak­en, pro­vid­ing read­ers with a sol­id foun­da­tion for fur­ther study. Whether for schol­ars, stu­dents, or gen­er­al read­ers, the book offers a com­pre­hen­sive under­stand­ing of the Civ­il War and its far-reach­ing con­se­quences. Through the care­ful cura­tion of resources, the author allows read­ers to engage with the past in a way that is both infor­ma­tive and thought-pro­vok­ing. By pre­sent­ing his­tor­i­cal events through a vari­ety of lens­es, The Demon of Unrest offers read­ers a deep­er under­stand­ing of the war’s com­plex­i­ties and its last­ing impact on the Amer­i­can nar­ra­tive. Through these efforts, the author has suc­ceed­ed in cre­at­ing a work that is as enlight­en­ing as it is cap­ti­vat­ing, ensur­ing its place in the ongo­ing con­ver­sa­tion about the Civ­il War and its lega­cy.