Devil in the White City

According to Aldous Huxley, "The horror no less than the charm of real life consists precisely in the recurrent actualization of the inconceivable ".

The story of the 1893 Chicago World's Fair as told in Erik Larson's "The Devil in the White City" proves this beyond doubt. It is the story of two architects, Daniel Burnham and Dr. H.H. Holmes. The former was a partner in the noted architectural firm Burnham and Root, builder of some of the most distinctive buildings in Chicago. Their technical innovations pushed buildings to literally new heights. Holmes, a trained medical doctor, was also an innovative builder. His hotel contained sound proof rooms, a gas chamber and a crematorium.

It was Daniel Burnham's vision that brought the World's Fair to Chicago. In his seemingly impossible bid to outshine the Paris World Fair and its noted Eiffel Tour, Burnham used his considerable powers of persuasion to marshall the forces of the most noted American architects. Together, they built a some of the largest and most dramatic buildings yet known, all in white and all in the same style. People came from around the world to see African tribesmen, an entire Algerian village (citizens included), and the world's largest cheese. It introduced to the world to belly dancing, Edison's kinetograph, AC electricity, Cracker Jacks, Juicy Fruit gum, Pabst beer, and shredded wheat. The world's first elevated train and the very first Ferris Wheel were here too. By its end, nearly 28 million people visited the fair, at it's peak 700,000 in a single day.

Some of those visitors had the great misfortune of staying the the hotel designed the Dr. H.H. Holmes. As many as 200 of his mainly female guests were never heard from again. A man almost universally acclaimed for his charm, he convinced a number of women to marry him and part with their fortunes. Many of them also parted with their lives. A master manipulator with multiple aliases, Holmes was able to swindle creditors and partners, defraud insurance companies, build a hotel without paying for labour or materials, and convince desperate families that their missing daughters were abroad.

Larson tells these two stories in alternating chapters, bringing to vivid life the excitement and marvels of the fair and the horror of Holmes' crimes.