The Devil In the White City chronicles one of the first serial killers, H.H. Holmes, in Chicago during the World’s Fair in 1893. This book is full of information. It provides a lot of context for the financial and social norms during this time in Chicago and how Chicago came to have the “White City”, the World’s Fair that drew so many to Chicago at that time.
H.H. Holmes is a man who works as a pharmacist and is a complete scam artist. He buys land and builds himself a “hotel” close to where the Fair is held so that he has streams of mostly young, single women coming from out of town to exert their independence and explore the city. It is still unknown how many women actually disappeared from this hotel. Mr. Holmes was able to build the hotel into a house of horror with pipes to put gas into rooms, and torture chambers in the basement. He was charming and good at telling a story and was able to seduce many women and gain the trust of many people. It was later confirmed what he was doing when his partner’s children were missing and found dead after traveling in his company.
The other story that is detailed in this book is that of the Chicago World Fair. This was actually a piece of history that I did not know much about. France had hosted a similar type of exposition and the Eiffel Tower had been built. America wanted to compete and put Daniel Burnham in charge of the near impossible job of turning the land selected in Chicago into the “White City.” Buildings were built, grounds were landscaped, people were brought in from around the world to take part in exhibits, and the highlight was the Ferris Wheel that was unveiled for the first time.
The stories of Daniel Burnham and H.H. Holmes were at odds with each other although both men did have driving ambition and had a way of getting things done. I actually wasn’t sure which was more amazing and unbelievable– how the World Fair was able to come together or how H.H. Holmes was able to make so many women disappear without arising suspicion. All in all it was a fascinating book and the detailed research that must have gone into it is apparent and appreciated.
28/08/2009 at 8:38 pm Permalink
This book is in my TBR pile. Great review!