Monday, July 27, 2015

The Devil in the White City

Before my recent visit to Chicago, a friend told me to be sure to read Erik Larson's The Devil in the White City: A Saga of Magic and Murder at the Fair that Changed America. I put the book on hold at my local library, but that hold has yet to be filled. However, after reading about the book to prepare for this post, I just might have to order the Kindle version!

While in Chicago, one of the places we visited was the Museum of Science and Industry. It's housed in the former Palace of Fine Arts from the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, which was part of "The White City."

According to Wikipedia, "The World's Columbian Exposition (the official shortened name for the World's Fair: Columbian Exposition, also known as The Chicago World's Fair) was a World's Fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The iconic centerpiece of the Fair, the large water pool, represented the long voyage Columbus took to the New World. Chicago bested New York City;Washington, D.C.; and St. Louis for the honor of hosting the fair." 

Before we planned our trip, I'd known a few things about the Chicago World's Fair. However, I'd never heard about the existence of a serial killer there! That story is told in Larson's The Devil in the White City. Wikipedia says,"The book is set in Chicago, circa 1893, intertwining the true tales of Daniel H. Burnham, the architect behind the 1893 World's Fair, and Dr. H. H. Holmes, the serial killer who lured his victims to their deaths in his elaborately constructed 'Murder Castle.'"

Morbid and fascinating! Did you know about Dr. H.H. Holmes, the serial killer at the Chicago World's Fair? Thanks for visiting and have a great week!

4 comments:

Norma said...

I'd never heard about any of this!

shelly said...

I remember reading a historical book on the Byzantine era before going to Israel. It was awesome when we got to Jerusalem to see the sites that certain people back in history had to do with. It's pretty cool to read either a fiction or non-fiction that has something to do with a place.

And like Norma, I've never heard of this either.

William Kendall said...

I have read this book- it's downright chilling.

I find it sometimes helps with a popular book to also place a hold on a large print copy; often there are fewer requests and you can get it faster.

Maria McKenzie said...

@Norma: New to me too!

@Shelly: I wish I'd read this book before going to Chicago;).

@William: Chilling--right down my alley! That's a great idea, and with LP, I wouldn't have to use my reading glasses:).