• The Devil in the White City

  • Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America
  • By: Erik Larson
  • Narrated by: Scott Brick
  • Length: 14 hrs and 58 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (30,012 ratings)

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The Devil in the White City  By  cover art

The Devil in the White City

By: Erik Larson
Narrated by: Scott Brick
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Publisher's summary

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The true tale of the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago and the cunning serial killer who used the magic and majesty of the fair to lure his victims to their death.

Two men, each handsome and unusually adept at his chosen work, embodied an element of the great dynamic that characterized America’s rush toward the twentieth century. The architect was Daniel Hudson Burnham, the fair’s brilliant director of works and the builder of many of the country’s most important structures, including the Flatiron Building in New York and Union Station in Washington, D.C. The murderer was Henry H. Holmes, a young doctor who, in a malign parody of the White City, built his “World’s Fair Hotel” just west of the fairgrounds—a torture palace complete with dissection table, gas chamber, and 3,000-degree crematorium.

Burnham overcame tremendous obstacles and tragedies as he organized the talents of Frederick Law Olmsted, Charles McKim, Louis Sullivan, and others to transform swampy Jackson Park into the White City, while Holmes used the attraction of the great fair and his own satanic charms to lure scores of young women to their deaths. What makes the story all the more chilling is that Holmes really lived, walking the grounds of that dream city by the lake.

The Devil in the White City draws the reader into a time of magic and majesty, made all the more appealing by a supporting cast of real-life characters, including Buffalo Bill, Theodore Dreiser, Susan B. Anthony, Thomas Edison, Archduke Francis Ferdinand, and others. Erik Larson’s gifts as a storyteller are magnificently displayed in this rich narrative of the master builder, the killer, and the great fair that obsessed them both.

©2003 Erik Larson (P)2003 Books on Tape, Inc.

Critic reviews

National Book Awards, Short-listed

Edgar Allan Poe Award Winner, Fact Crime, 2004

"Engrossing . . . exceedingly well documented . . . utterly fascinating.” Chicago Tribune

“A dynamic, enveloping book. . . . Relentlessly fuses history and entertainment to give this nonfiction book the dramatic effect of a novel. . . . It doesn’t hurt that this truth is stranger than fiction.” The New York Times

“A wonderfully unexpected book. . . Larson is a historian . . . with a novelist’s soul.” Chicago Sun-Times

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What listeners say about The Devil in the White City

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

History come to life

fantastic blend of historical knowledge of daily life and the horrors that could be found within

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Very interesting story

I found this story very interesting and stunning at the same time! Some of amazing first time things accomplished with this World’s Fair are incredible! Also how many items are still with us today!

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Fascinating, excellent narration.

Larson’ telling of the inception and success of the Chicago World’s Fair, and serial killer at the same time, is fascinating history read more like a novel than non-fiction, although all true!

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Fascinating story ruined by a mind-numbingly boring book

Excruciating detail and not in a good way. I’m an avid reader of true crime and historical non-fiction of all sorts but difficult to stay interested in this book. Ultimately finished it but probably would’ve been better off reading the Wikipedia.

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    2 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

very slow

Too slow of a story with too much detail in places it didn't need to be. First book in 6 years I didn't finish, it was too painful.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Excellent!

Word of warning, however. Do not start this book if you do not have time to read. It will  reel you in and hold you.  The research and presentation are amazing. You from time to time may forget that you are reading fact and not some juicy novel. 

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    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

boring and misrepresented book title

It's really about the history of Chicago's world fair. If you want history about that, here's your book! Doesn't touch much on the Devil in the white city. Misrepresented title. Should have been called "Chicago's First Fair & some on the Devil in the White City"
I do not complain about books much, this was so disappointing. I kept waiting for it to pick up and tell more about Holmes.
The narrator was great though- not his fault. Just a boring book in general.

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    4 out of 5 stars

Like listening to a college lecture

This book was amazing and the reading top notch! While I don’t think I would have been able to read it myself-too many dry facts-listening to it allowed the story to come alive. Surprisingly, I most enjoyed the building of the World’s Fair over H.H. Holmes’ (the aspect that drew me to this novel).

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Architecture… that’s it. Politics and architecture.

This was tough to get through. Was hoping for more Holmes content, but this appeared to simply be a vehicle to talk about the bureaucratic intricacies of building the world’s fair. Pretty drab and superfluous.

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Different than i expected...

I heard so much about this book... being a great read, a NYT bestseller... and most importantly to me, that it is about HH Holmes. That is only partially true. I'd say 60%+ of the book is actually about the Chicago's World Fair and all the architects and different folks involved in bringing it to success (success? you be the judge). At first I was disappointed in the pacing and that there wasn't much about Holmes. By the end, I was fascinated with Chicago in the late 1800s and all the interesting characters within. I really enjoyed the book... even though I may look for a different book for more HH Holmes lore.

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