The Devil in the White City: A Saga of Magic and Murder at the Fair that Changed America | 
 enlarge | Author: Erik Larson
Publisher: Vintage
Category: EBooks
List Price: $9.95
Buy New: $7.96
You Save: $1.99 (20%)
Rating:  782 reviews
Sales Rank: 210
Format: Kindle Book
Media: Kindle Edition
Pages: 447
Number Of Items: 1
Dewey Decimal Number: 364.15230977311
ASIN: B000FC0ZIA
Publication Date: February 10, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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Amazon.com Review
Author Erik Larson imbues the incredible events surrounding the 1893 Chicago World's Fair with such drama that readers may find themselves checking the book's categorization to be sure that The Devil in the White City is not, in fact, a highly imaginative novel. Larson tells the stories of two men: Daniel H. Burnham, the architect responsible for the fair's construction, and H.H. Holmes, a serial killer masquerading as a charming doctor. Burnham's challenge was immense. In a short period of time, he was forced to overcome the death of his partner and numerous other obstacles to construct the famous "White City" around which the fair was built. His efforts to complete the project, and the fair's incredible success, are skillfully related along with entertaining appearances by such notables as Buffalo Bill Cody, Susan B. Anthony, and Thomas Edison. The activities of the sinister Dr. Holmes, who is believed to be responsible for scores of murders around the time of the fair, are equally remarkable. He devised and erected the World's Fair Hotel, complete with crematorium and gas chamber, near the fairgrounds and used the event as well as his own charismatic personality to lure victims. Combining the stories of an architect and a killer in one book, mostly in alternating chapters, seems like an odd choice but it works. The magical appeal and horrifying dark side of 19th-century Chicago are both revealed through Larson's skillful writing. --John Moe
Product Description
Two men, each handsome and unusually adept at his chosen work, embodied an element of the great dynamic that characterized America’s rush toward the twentieth century. The architect was Daniel Hudson Burnham, the fair’s brilliant director of works and the builder of many of the country’s most important structures, including the Flatiron Building in New York and Union Station in Washington, D.C. The murderer was Henry H. Holmes, a young doctor who, in a malign parody of the White City, built his “World’s Fair Hotel” just west of the fairgrounds—a torture palace complete with dissection table, gas chamber, and 3,000-degree crematorium. Burnham overcame tremendous obstacles and tragedies as he organized the talents of Frederick Law Olmsted, Charles McKim, Louis Sullivan, and others to transform swampy Jackson Park into the White City, while Holmes used the attraction of the great fair and his own satanic charms to lure scores of young women to their deaths. What makes the story all the more chilling is that Holmes really lived, walking the grounds of that dream city by the lake.
The Devil in the White City draws the reader into a time of magic and majesty, made all the more appealing by a supporting cast of real-life characters, including Buffalo Bill, Theodore Dreiser, Susan B. Anthony, Thomas Edison, Archduke Francis Ferdinand, and others. In this book the smoke, romance, and mystery of the Gilded Age come alive as never before.
Erik Larson’s gifts as a storyteller are magnificently displayed in this rich narrative of the master builder, the killer, and the great fair that obsessed them both.
To find out more about this book, go to http://www.DevilInTheWhiteCity.com.
From the Hardcover edition.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 777 more reviews...
 Thrilling and Enchanting History January 5, 2009
ironman96 (Ohio)
This book is an exciting and compelling account of of the 1893 Chicago Worlds Fair. Although it reads like a mystery novel, it is actual history. Two parallel stories run through the book, the account of the planning and success of the fair as well as the activities of a sinister serial killer who preyed upon visitors to the fair. The author is especially adept at bringing out the interesting side stories that intersect with the account of the fair. Highly recommended--especially for fans of history and mysteries.
 The beginnings of modern America December 30, 2008
Roket Pad (Seattle)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Awesome.
The White City, a neoclassical court of stunning buildings, lit up with the first spotlights. Think of Washington's Mall, but more cozy.
The Black City, Chicago's nickname for its grime, dirt, and violence.
The chaos in Chicago, at a turning point in American civic art and architecture, provided cover for a madman. Holmes built a Black City castle, processing the bodies of his victims like pigs at the stockyards.
A great follow-up would be a history of Chicago in the 1900s, where you watch Burnham and other characters take their Fair concepts and methodically apply them to the city at large. I'm going the other way, reading Homicide.
Great bus/el read for commuting to Englewood December 28, 2008
H. Solomon
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
In most serial killer stories, there is something to lead you to believe that some redemption would have been possible. That of H.H. Holmes is a exception. And Larson paints a gruesome tale of how well pure evil can thrive in a distracted city with top to bottom incompetence.
 Can't tell what this book is about; The Worlds Fair or H.H. Holmes December 25, 2008
Steven R. Roush (Below Hell!)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
This book is choppy at best. It moves from one subject to the next and does not read through.
I was very dissapointed with this book. If I had known I would of bought the other book on H.H. Holmes!
Remarkable Story of Tragedy in the Shadows of Triumph December 21, 2008
Hume N. Reitz (Orlando, USA)
Stories of triumph and tragedy are paralleled in this remarkable book by Erik Larson. I initially picked up this book because of an interest in Chicago architect Daniel Burnham. The coverage of Burnham was fascinating and I also found myself quickly absorbed in the suspenseful drama of H.H. Holmes. The long shadows cast by the creation of the Fair provide cover for the sinister activities of a polite professional predator. This book took me on contrasting journeys of wonder and contempt for the people encountered along the way. Larson intricately builds a remarkable portrait of Chicago in the late 19th century. He skillfully includes enough historical anecdotes to open up other avenues for exploration as well. If you have an appreciation for architecture, history, or just a good true crime story, this is a book to savor.
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