The Devil in the White City: Uncovering the True Story of Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Chicago World's Fair of 1893

Amazon Customer: Excellent book at an excellent price 🥂

Canada on Jan 07, 2024

Fred: This is an exceedingly well written and engrossing account of two dramas, running parallel to each other in time and place and in alternating chapters of the book, depicting the creation and realization of the Chicago Colombian Exposition of 1893, with all its artistic, political, technical, and financial challenges, and the activities of a serial killer operating on its borders.

Italy on Apr 22, 2023

Leon: Es una obra maestra tejida como un enorme tapiz.

IMPRESIONANTE.

Spain on Jan 13, 2021

V Vijayaraghavan: The novel is a historical account of the exposition in Chicago at the beginning of last centuries. The author contrasts the hero who tools for the exposition and also a villain who revels in killing people. On the whole, it is an interesting read. It was delightful tome as I am a civil engineer who can appreciate the problems faced in construction

India on Jul 03, 2020

Cliente de Amazon: Muy bien libro y todo bien con el envío.

Mexico on Dec 21, 2018

Nick Yarborough: “I was born with the devil in me. I could not help the fact that I was a murderer, no more than the poet can help the inspiration to sing” –H.H. Holmes

“Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men’s blood” –Daniel Burnham

Erik Larson opens his book with these two quotes that function as a preview—and microcosm—to the essence of the two minds at the heart of his Devil in the White City. More than that, both men operated within the same city that spurred their minds to blossom in all their respective depravity and grandeur: Chicago. And more specifically, the author examines the single event that acted as the crucible for revealing both the best and worst that these men could conjure—that event being The Chicago World’s Fair of 1893—an event that would serve as a symbol to the spectrum of the human spirit in all its glory and monstrosity upon the advent of the twentieth century.

Chicago of 1893 was a burgeoning American city determined to demonstrate itself against its metropolitan rivals to the East. And with the national decision to commemorate Columbus’ 400th anniversary—coupled by the renowned debut of Eiffel’s Tower at...

United States on Feb 15, 2016

Bruce Loveitt: If you read "Isaac's Storm," you have some idea of Mr. Larson's writing ability. Still, that book did not prepare me for this experience. With "The Devil In The White City" the author has moved the bar up a notch. He has several major themes and a few minor ones and he succeeds in meshing everything together seamlessly. First, we have the story of the Chicago World's Fair of 1893. Mr. Larson gives us the background, explaining the competition between various American cities that lobbied Congress for the right to hold the fair. New York, Chicago, Washington D.C. and St. Louis all wanted the fair. (The pressure was on to outdo the Paris Exposition Universelle of 1889.) The "upper-crust" of Chicago was especially anxious to prove to New York City that Chicago was much more than a place where animals were slaughtered and butchered. They wanted to demonstrate that Chicago had "class" and culture. Once Chicago won the competition to hold the fair, the race was on to design something spectacular and to get it built by the deadline that had been set. Mr. Larson introduces us to Daniel Burnham, the fair's director of works, and brings us into the offices of Burnham and the other architects...

United States on Mar 03, 2003