The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America

This is a fabulous story of the World's Fair in Chicago. It intrudes some of the most famous architects of American history and weaves a murder mystery into the storyline.

"Devil in the White City" is a compelling read from the start. The book does an excellent job of capturing the mood and thought processes of the age just before the turn of the century. The reader is offered a perspective on American history that is not offered in most history books, and it does so in an interesting and intriguing way. The killer in the midst adds even more to the imagery provided by the author. The authors writing style adds to the creepyness factor quite a bit. Not only was this an enlightening book to read it was equally engaging. The writing does bog down somewhat with arcane details related to the development of the World's Fair and the White City; however, most of the descriptions of these events are delivered in an interesting and very readable fashion. This is an enjoyable read, no question.

Great book! Details a huge event in American history - the Columbian Exposition of 1893 - as well as a serial killer who may have claimed more victims than any other. These events have certainly faded from memory as the people who experienced them died off long ago.

The repercussions of the grand expo were immense - from the mundane zipper to the ubiquitous Ferris wheel at every county fair all can claim roots to the 1893 Chicago fair.
Larson spent countless hours meticulously researching the events of the time period.

It's really a story about two main "characters" - "Holmes" the killer and the exposition itself. Much of the tale tells the story of how the exposition (barely) came together and pulled of the greatest show on Earth.

Reading about the exploits of Holmes, who has also attained legendary status but isn't mentioned much among the other modern killers, made me think that serial killers have existed as long as time itself. It was the personality of the monster that created the killer - he had a need and fulfilled that need. Only in recent times, because of modern technology, have we been able to catch these most horrific criminals. Previously, killers like Holmes - who almost wasn't caught, slipped underneath the radar.

I really liked how the author would throw in a line at the end of a chapter that would allude to a later happening in the story, without giving away what would happen - it definitely kept me turning the pages.

The fact that it was rooted in real history and had the true crime angle along with the triumph of great men made this a great book for me. I'd recommend it to anyone who likes either genre.

I first learned of this book written by Erik Larson on C-Span's Booknotes. In hearing Larson's explanation of the Chicago's World's Columbian Exposition, I became intrigued by what it took to build and what this Fair represented not only to Chicago but to the United States.
Larson goes into great detail to explain the types of building and expositions that were on display. In explaining the planning and development of the lakefront area, he brings in the major architects of this lavish Fair, they being Daniel Burnham and Frederick Law Olmsted. These rather famous professionals had to overcome financial constraints along with a rather short time span to accomplish this large task. Larson indeed goes into the details and arguments that ultimately formed the greatest World's Fair in history up to that point in time.
Such attention to significant expositions such as the introduction of the Farris Wheel set along the Midway sets the tone for this great festive Exposition of 1893. This brought fame and honor to Chicago. No longer could this city be considered an industrial sink only known for its slaughter houses and Midwestern life.
Along with this rather in depth history of Chicago in the gay 90's, we also get a story which according to David Traxel's New York Times Book Review is stated as "A Real-Life Bates Motel". I never thought of this book in that light, but in truth Mr. Traxel has hit the nail on the head.
Dr. Herman Madgett, alias H. H. Holmes was indeed the devil. Norman Bates would just be considered a juvenile delinquent in comparison. Larson gives a remarkable true scenario of a man who builds a hotel solely for the purpose of killing attractive young women and children. He offered rooms at very low rates for women and he killed them in airtight and soundproof rooms. To make this even more remarkable, as this was happening during this World's Fair, no one even knew what was happening nor were these women even really missed.
I won't go into how they captured this diabolical killer. That's for you to find out. This book reads like a fictional thriller set in an extravagant background.
Great read, almost too hard to believe that it's true.

This is an engrossing non-fiction book that tells two stories in parallel - the development of Chicago's World Fair and the criminal life of Dr. Holmes (aka Mudgett). If you're interested in history, architecture, project management, or Chicago, this book is full of fascinating tid-bits & facts. If you're interested in serial killers and crime details, this book will leave you looking for more. What I like is that it's a non-fiction book with a great author writing as though it's fiction. Larson includes descriptions of the "characters'" appearances and mannerisms and ends chapters with cliff hangers and foreshadowing.

It's probably unfair to criticize a non-fiction writer for the outcome of the story, but I was disappointed with conclusion of Holmes' tale. The story of the World Fair is interesting and very detailed, and having Holmes' story told in parallel did make the book more worthwhile and nicely broke up monotony of one subject. The World Fair's development was built up quite thoroughly, and as a reward, the details of the Fair in motion and the life of its stakeholders after the fact were satisfying. But Holmes' side of the story was lacking. While his life during the Fair was strange and interesting, the book seemed to be building up to a climax that never occurs. The conclusion of Holmes' story seemed hasty compared to the thoroughness of the first three quarters of the book, especially when it appears there are more details and accounts of his criminal activities during this period of his life than any other.

Again, it's a true story, but the build up and pay off of each story is uneven. In the end, although I was not totally satisfied, it was a worthwhile and enjoyable read and I took away several interesting facts about Chicago and the 1893 World Fair that are meaningful even 115 years later.