The Devil in the White City

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The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic and Madness at the Fair that Changed America is a 2003 book by Erik Larson. Although written in a suspenseful style aimed at the general reader, the book is a work of non-fiction. It details the intersection of two men's lives at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, both of whom were intimately involved in the fair: Daniel Burnham, the architect who overcame obstacles to design and build the fair, and H. H. Holmes, a serial killer who used the fair as cover while he kidnapped and murdered numerous young women.

[edit] Plot Summary

The White City tells the story of the building of the World's Exposition in Chicago. Chicago was considered a far less cultured city than New York City and the building of the Exposition was an opportunity for the city to shine across the world. The exposition was the debut of the Ferris wheel. The entire event was led by Daniel Burnham and John Root and met with enormous problems including labor strikes, constant delays, weather, and the ‘devil,’ H. H. Holmes who allegedly murdered up to 200 people leading up to and during the event.