An account of the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893 relates the stories of two men who shaped the history of the event–architect Daniel H. Burnham, who coordinated its construction, and serial killer Herman Mudgett.
The Devil in the White City
By eriklarson
I love all of Eric Larson’s books. This was interesting, not just about H.H.Holmes but also the Chicago World’s Fair. How it was imagined and the magical design. Great book.
I read this book probably 8 years ago and the events still haunt me! Great read.
A little heavy in the sections about the construction of the park, but truly informative and interesting
Any book written by this author needs to be read more than once! This book shares with us horrifying murders in at the Chicago World’s Fair. It is really interesting and Mr. Larson does know his history!
Loved finding out about the city of Chicago during the World Fair it hosted and all that they were able to do in that time period.
Such a horrible tale but I could not put it down. The historical context was so very interesting
What a story. The white city was amazing in itself, but what happened there was more than just discovery.
Larson weaves the building of modern Chicago with the pursuit of a truly demonic serial kill–none of it is fiction
Outstanding
AWESOME
The real life history in this book was fantastic.
Read it years ago, and I still think about it. Superb!!!!
Like all of Erik Larson’s books this one gets going really well but sometimes gets in it’s own way with too many facts.
Lots of information! Great for anyone who’s really into trivia!
Fascinating true story!
One of my favorite books. The story of what may be the first record of a serial killer capitalizing on all the girls coming to work at the World Fair in Chicago in 1893. The story of the serial killer is counterpointed with a lot of interesting detail on the engineering and architecting of the building and grounds for that World’s Fair along …
I liked this book because it was a true story, very dramatic, and it sheds light on a historical event which is mostly forgotten.
I enjoyed this book, He is such a good author and it was well researched. Sometimes it did get bogged down in details.
very interesting, side-by-side story-telling. At times a bit heavy on details and dry. But overall enjoyable.
Wide-ranging cultural history written in narrative fashion illustrating the intense efforts to realize the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair (Columbian Exposition) and the predatory horror paralleling those efforts, This was the first Erik Larson book I read. Many Larson books later, this remains the most emotionally and intellectually challenging.
Great!