Rating: 
Summary: Popular History at Its Best
Review: Erik Larson's "The Devil in the White City" is popular history at its best. I think this book is one of the best I've read this year. I thought Larson vividly captured the magic and wonder of the expositon's "White City," while at the same time describing the gruesome Holmes murders which took place mere blocks away from the exposition. Many have complained about Larson's putting the stories of Holmes and Burnham together when in actual fact the two men never met, however, I found the author's juxtaposition of the 1893 Columbian Exposition and its principal architect Daniel Burnham with serial killer Dr. H. H. Holmes one of the book's most intriguing facets. That something so horrible as the Holmes murders could take place within walking distance of the Columbian Exposition makes for a chilling reflection. For a non-specialist writing popular history, I thought Larson did thorough and detailed research, staying away from disreputable or questionable sources. Nevertheless, the book does suffer from a lack of more photographs. Though Larson gives vivid descriptions, still, one wished one could see photos of the structures described. The endpaper map of the expo site was very attractive, but a more detailed map of some of the areas (such as the Midway Plaisance) would have been welcome (as an example, I had great difficulty locating the Ferris Wheel, one of the key locations of the story, on the map; it was located near the top of the map very close to a fold in the endpapers, and nearly obscured by an arrow symbol). Many of the buildings mentioned in the text were not labeled. Also, the section of the book dealing with Holmes'arrest and trial seemed at times like an afterthought, as if the author had to hurry up and get to the end. Larson's repeated use of the parenthetical phrase "in twenty-first century dollars" to explain nineteenth century monetary values got a bit wearisome as well. But all in all, I'd recommend the book highly. It got me interested in reading more about both Holmes and the 1893 Columbian Expo. To me, any book that does that is good writing.
Rating:
Summary: Terrific History- Reads like fiction but its not!
Review: I admit that I started reading this book with a couple of built in biases- first, I enjoyed his previous book, Issac's Storm, and second I have always loved Chicago, the home of my wife, great architecture, and two baseball teams! So I hoped to like this book and I was not disappointed. Set in Chicago during the great Columbia Exposition of 1893, it is able to immerse you in the place and the time. Well written and researched, Larson writes with the timing of a novelist, bringing you into the dark world of Dr. Holmes, the devil in this book, and the White City, the amazing fair put together in a little more than two years by one of this country's great architect's, Daniel Burham. Though almost half the book is about Dr. Holmes, a grisley mass murderer, Larson spares us much of the gory details in favor of describing Chicago and the United States as it prepared to enter the 20th century. Larson keeps your interest with great little snippets about such characters as Buffalo Bill, Fredrick Law Olmstead, and other figures from America's past. The background to how the White City came to past is fascinating and provides a window on a time when civic pride meant everything. I strongly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in Chicago, architecture, or true life crime stories. As much as I enjoyed Issac's Storm, Larson tops himself with this latest effort.
Rating: 
Summary: All history should be so readable
Review: What a great book. Anyone who says, "Too much about the fair's architecture" doesn't appreciate the significance of what Larson has given us: a lively account of the very moment when Chicago became a key center of finance, art, and politics, known throughout the world. On top of that, he's reconstructed a chilling serial murder mystery. His connections between the two events are fascinating and never tenuous or strained. Plus, his extensive use of primary sources and quoting from contemporary sources is a welcome change from modern historians' tendency toward relying on their own verbose reconstructions of the facts.
Larson makes the Fair, its actors, and its place come alive. While the ending is slightly summary, it is a highly enjoyable and quick read.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting but...
Review: The subject matter is very compelling...however the writing soon becomes tedious and redundant. At times overly descriptive, by the time I neared the end I found myself skimming the pages.
Rating:
Summary: Liked it but.....
Review: too much history and not enough about the devil "H.H. Holmes". It took me a while to get into this book. It starts off with references to the Titanic then it gets into the Chicago stockyards and the World's Fair. Really dry but factual. Unfortunately I found myself skipping over pages until the story picked up again with Dr. Holmes. Several times I asked myself with all the good books out there to read why was I wasting my time reading this one. I'm glad I persisted because it actually turned out to be a very good book. I only gave it 4 stars because I too would have liked more illustrations, photos and maps. Give it a chance, it's worth the read.
Rating:
Summary: The Architech vs. The Devil
Review: Eric Larson has managed to create a compelling non-fiction story of the 1893 Chicago Worlds Fair and the gruesome murders that took place at the same time a few blocks away. Larson's work is an easy read that is extremely interesting as well as well-researched. The 1893 Chicago Worlds Fair was an event that at the time was viewed as one of the most important in our nation's history, but as since become more or less a footnote to the splendor the Guilded Age. Larson's book sheds light on this forgotten event, giving us details on the building of the fair as well as once it opened. Larson also gives his reader's the story of H.H. Holmes, who he bills as the first "modern" urban serial murderer. Holmes' story is an interesting juxtoposition to the splendor and innovation happening at the fair. I suppose in the end, we can never really escape the basest of human activities no matter how many inventions we invent or how big we build our buildings. The only fault I have with this book is its lack of illustrations. A better detailed map of the Fair, a map of Chicago in 1893 and some photos of the Fair would have been good reference points. But otherwise, I throughly good read!
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Summary: The best and worst of mankind
Review: Though non-fiction, The Devil in the White City serves as a fitting metaphor for late nineteenth century America. We see mankind at its very best, reaching to new heights of material advancement working alongside mankind at its very worst, sinking ever deeper into the muck of depravity. The heights were reached by the 1893 Columbian Exposition. The host city Chicago was the nation's fastest booming metropolis. In many ways this new city, driven by commerce, offered a window to the nation's future. Here the Industrial Revolution reached fruition and demonstrated the awesome powers of man over nature. Just as Silicon Valley was the considered the economic boom town of the 1990s, Chicago was the place to be in the second half of the nineteenth century. At the same time, and in the same city, mankind was also reaching new lows. These depths were plumbed by Herman W. Mudgett, aka Dr. Henry H. Holmes the nation's first serial killer. Chicago lobbied hard for the fair, earning its nickname the "windy city" during the process. The odds were stacked against the city's being able to pull it off. Time was of the essence and the committee for the fair found itself tangled in a morass of conflicting egos and interests. Jackson Park, an undeveloped lakefront area on Chicago's South side chosen for the site, sat raw and undeveloped as it appeared there was no possible way the deadline could be met. Emerging from this chaos was Daniel Burnham. His dedication and vision galvanized a team that eventually managed to do the impossible. The White City which grew out of this combined effort of imagination and determination gave witness to human society at its finest. In the meantime, a short distance from the fairgrounds, Dr. H. Holmes had recently set up a new Hotel that catered exclusively to young unescorted women many of whom vanished without a trace. The police were slow to catch on. This sort of murder was new to them. Murder was confined to jealous spouses and botched robberies and not something that was done for sport. The trail of lies spread by Dr. Holmes and his ability to dodge creditors as well as the law simply astounds. It wasn't until well after the close of the fair that the dogged determination of a single detective brought Holmes to justice. Larson's work neatly intersperces these two tales. Both stories heat up as they progress and the book gets increasingly harder to put down. He spins the tale so well that I had to check several times to confirm that it was non-fiction. A recommended read.
Rating: 
Summary: Definitely not a page turner
Review: ... What a disappointment. I too, found the story rather mundane and uninteresting, for a seemingly interesting tale. I would have liked to see more photos than the two or three offered to help give a clearer sense of what the fair actually looked like and how grand it was. I found the inscessant use of quotations to be really annoying after the first hundred pages. I found this use of storytelling to be rather distracting and generally a detriment to the story as a whole. I also found all the overly thought about descriptions of the fair and its grandiosity to be somewhat contrived and repetitive. .... Instead of diving in to the book headfirst, I found myself picking it up when I had nothing better to read, and even then I got bored after a few chapters. This story would have probably been better were it a documentary on PBS or the History channel. If you want to read a book that will not only scare you, but you will truly not be able to put down, read "Handcarved Coffins" in Truman Capote's "Music for Chameleons", or Richard Preston's latest, "The Demon in the Freezer".
Rating:
Summary: wonderful read....
Review: I heard Erik Larson interviewed on Public Radio, which is why I wanted to read his book. I love the idea of taking two stories, which on their own, would make a fine book.... but putting them together makes a GREAT book. I love how I find myself making minute mental shifts, when going from the architects to the socioparh... each making their mark, side-by-side. Great pace and fascinating facts.
Rating:
Summary: Great Read
Review: This was a great read. I never knew so much came out of the Chicago's World's Fair. If you liked this book be sure to pick up Empire: A Tale of Obsession, Betrayal, and the Battle for an American Icon by Mitchell Pacelle.
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