Devil in the White City - Erik Larson

My bookclub's most recent book is Larson's Devil in the White City, a thrilling historical drama about the construction of the 1892 World's Fair and the serial killer who preyed upon its visitors, H.H. Holmes.



Holmes is only one among several intriguing players in the tale, including ambitious lead architect Burnham and cantankerous but brilliant landscape architect Olmsted.

The work is very engaging and colorful and powerfully recreates the atmosphere of bustling, squalid Chicago at the turn of the century, and the otherworldly transformation it underwent to become the White City during the Fair. It was also fun to realize how many inventions we consider commonplace had their origins in this fair. I would recommend this book to everyone.

The White City

Tangentially related, Nikolai Tesla won the contract to provide electricity at the World's Fair, so here is a hilarious video.