Category - Non Fiction / History
Format - Paperback
Condition - New
Listed - 4 months ago
Views - 4
Wishes - 1
Ships From - Texas
Est. Publication Date - Feb 2004
Seller Description
Combining meticulous research with nail-biting storytelling, Erik Larson has crafted a narrative with all the wonder of newly discovered history and the thrills of the best fiction. 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 the enchantment of the Guilded Age, 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. 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.
Additional Information
The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America
ISBN: 9780375725609
Publisher Description
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 Herm...
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What readers are saying about this book
Summarized by Pango AI
PangoBooks readers find this book compelling due to its masterful weaving of two parallel stories: the creation of the Chicago World's Fair and the chilling actions of a serial killer. The narrative's blend of history, suspense, and detailed accounts of prominent historical figures keeps readers intrigued. Many appreciate the author's ability to craft non-fiction that reads like a novel, though some find certain historical aspects, like bickering architects, less engaging. Overall, it’s praised for its thorough research and engaging storytelling.