The Devil in the White City

Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America

By: Erik Larson

Narrated by: Scott Brick

Length: 14 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's summary

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The true tale of the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago and the cunning serial killer who used the magic and majesty of the fair to lure his victims to their death.

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. 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.

©2003 Erik Larson (P)2003 Books on Tape, Inc.

Critic reviews

National Book Awards, Short-listed

Edgar Allan Poe Award Winner, Fact Crime, 2004

"Engrossing . . . exceedingly well documented . . . utterly fascinating.” —Chicago Tribune

“A dynamic, enveloping book. . . . Relentlessly fuses history and entertainment to give this nonfiction book the dramatic effect of a novel. . . . It doesn’t hurt that this truth is stranger than fiction.” —The New York Times

“A wonderfully unexpected book. . . Larson is a historian . . . with a novelist’s soul.” —Chicago Sun-Times

Haunting

Couldn’t believe I had not heard of this story. Incredible storytelling by the author and excellent narration brings it to life in the audiobook.

One of my all time favorites!

Can’t say enough good things about this book. It has it all! It had me on the edge of my seat! When I heard the author would be at a dinner my firm was hosting (while I was out of town), I had my colleague get my hard copy signed! What an exciting read!

Tedious and disjointed

It reads like two completely different book that have had been torn apart and then glued back together with one chapter from one book then the next chapter from the other, back and forth seemingly without anything to do with each other aside from the time and city in which they take place. The details from the telling of the fair gets down to details so mundane it’s like reading a shopping list. The telling of the story of one of the most gruesome serial killers in history lacks any sort of emotion or connection with any of the players. There is no sympathy for the victims, Holmes is not given any depth and is described as “charming” so many times it makes me want to send the author a thesaurus. However, it is excruciatingly well researched and would make a good text book for anyone interested in architecture of the period.

3 stories in one

I hadn't really read a book synopsis so I didn't know much except that it was about the Chicago World Exposition.
This was so much more in weaving in two other significant stories happening against the fair backdrop.
I love history and this book had me stopping and Googling and going down rabbit holes to learn more. Fascinating!

Fascinating from cover to cover

My husband suggested this book to me. I absolutely enjoyed every chapter. The weaving of two tales works very well - and the narrator does a great job. I will say I listened to it at 1.2 speed as I tend to be a bit impatient.

Worth a listen.

Very interesting story

This is more a story about the building of the Chicago worlds fair and with interspersed tales of the murderous HH Holmes. I found the fair parts so interesting that they overshadowed the Holmes parts. Well done book.

Loved it!!!

I love how there are two stories here and how they relate together in the period in which they took place and can allow the reader to travel in time. The narrator Scott Brick did an incredible job and I hope to hear more books read by him. Erik Larson has become one of my favorites after listening to this and his book The sinking of the Lusitania. I’m already looking forward to more by him.

90% White City and 10% Devil

The title is deceptive. This should be titled the World's Fair with a few short story inserts about H.H. Holmes. The book has tons of detail on the 1894 World's Fare in Chicago and those involved in making it happen. This is interesting and educational but it is mis titled and in reality about 90% White City and 10% Devil.

Extremely well written. Even though this is non-fiction it reads like a fictional story.

I’ve read the physical book and now listened to the audio book and both are so well done. The story is captivating, not just another boring historical recounting of events. The way the chapters are laid out keeps you wanting to read and read right up until the end and even then you wish there was more.

History come to life

fantastic blend of historical knowledge of daily life and the horrors that could be found within