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The Devil in the White City
- Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 14 hrs and 58 mins
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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.
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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On Winston Churchill’s first day as prime minister, Adolf Hitler invaded Holland and Belgium. Poland and Czechoslovakia had already fallen, and the Dunkirk evacuation was just two weeks away. For the next 12 months, Hitler would wage a relentless bombing campaign, killing 45,000 Britons. It was up to Churchill to hold his country together and persuade President Franklin Roosevelt that Britain was a worthy ally - and willing to fight to the end. In The Splendid and the Vile, Erik Larson shows how Churchill taught the British people "the art of being fearless."
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John Lee’s narration is a struggle
- By Leslie Rathjens on 03-05-20
By: Erik Larson
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The Demon of Unrest
- A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War
- By: Erik Larson
- Narrated by: Will Patton, Erik Larson
- Length: 17 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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On November 6, 1860, Abraham Lincoln became the fluky victor in a tight race for president. The country was bitterly at odds; Southern extremists were moving ever closer to destroying the Union, with one state after another seceding and Lincoln powerless to stop them. Slavery fueled the conflict, but somehow the passions of North and South came to focus on a lonely federal fortress in Charleston Harbor: Fort Sumter.
By: Erik Larson
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Lethal Passage
- The Story of a Gun
- By: Erik Larson
- Narrated by: Richard Poe
- Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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This devastating book illuminates America's gun culture - its manufacturers, dealers, buffs, and propagandists - but also offers concrete solutions to our national epidemic of death by firearm. It begins with an account of a crime that is by now almost commonplace: on December 16, 1988, 16-year-old Nicholas Elliot walked into his Virginia high school with a Cobray M-11/9 and several hundred rounds of ammunition tucked in his backpack. By day's end, he had killed one teacher and severely wounded another.
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great reasoned book
- By Claire on 04-26-20
By: Erik Larson
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The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson: Summary & Analysis
- By: Instaread
- Narrated by: Michael Gilboe
- Length: 34 mins
- Unabridged
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The Devil in the White City is a book by Erik Larson that takes a close look at the World's Columbian Exposition, the world fair that Chicago hosted in 1893 in celebration of the 400th anniversary of Columbus' discovery of America. The fair was tainted by deaths, a serial killer, and an assassination. The lead architect, Daniel Burnham, and the serial killer, Henry Howard Holmes, play pivotal roles in the events that unfolded before, during, and after the fair.
By: Instaread
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Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
- By: John Berendt
- Narrated by: Jeff Woodman, Will Damron, John Berendt
- Length: 15 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Shots rang out in Savannah's grandest mansion in the misty,early morning hours of May 2, 1981. Was it murder or self-defense? For nearly a decade, the shooting and its aftermath reverberated throughout this hauntingly beautiful city of moss-hung oaks and shaded squares. John Berendt's sharply observed, suspenseful, and witty narrative flows like a thoroughly engrossing novel, and yet it is a work of nonfiction.
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LOVED IT!!!
- By Heidi on 07-11-10
By: John Berendt
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Hotel Angeline
- A Novel in 36 Voices
- By: Erik Larson, Jamie Ford, Deb Caletti, and others
- Narrated by: Pam Ward
- Length: 8 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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Thirty-six of the most interesting writers in the Pacific Northwest came together for a week-long marathon of writing live on stage. The result? Hotel Angeline, a truly inventive novel that surprises at every turn of the page. Something is amiss at the Hotel Angeline, a rickety former mortuary perched atop Capitol Hill in rain-soaked Seattle. Fourteen-year-old Alexis Austin is fixing the plumbing, the tea, and all the problems of the world, it seems, in her landlady mother’s absence.
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Too Many Writers!
- By Lisa on 08-25-13
By: Erik Larson, and others
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Mindhunter
- Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit
- By: John E. Douglas, Mark Olshaker
- Narrated by: Richard M. Davidson
- Length: 15 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Bonus material! Includes an excerpt from John Douglas and Mark Olshaker’s Obsession! Discover the classic behind-the-scenes chronicle of John E. Douglas’ 25-year career in the FBI Investigative Support Unit, where he used psychological profiling to delve into the minds of the country’s most notorious serial killers and criminals - the basis for the upcoming Netflix original series.
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I have purchased every book J.E.D. Has made available
- By leelee8888 on 10-29-17
By: John E. Douglas, and others
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American Predator
- The Hunt for the Most Meticulous Serial Killer of the 21st Century
- By: Maureen Callahan
- Narrated by: Amy Landon
- Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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The names of notorious serial killers are usually well-known; they echo in the news and in public consciousness. But most people have never heard of Israel Keyes, one of the most ambitious and terrifying serial killers in modern history American Predator is the ambitious culmination of years of interviews with key figures in law enforcement and in Keyes's life, and research uncovered from classified FBI files. Callahan takes us on a journey into the chilling, nightmarish mind of a relentless killer, and to the limitations of traditional law enforcement.
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Why you shouldn’t listen to Reviews
- By jofi00 on 10-23-19
By: Maureen Callahan
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In Cold Blood
- By: Truman Capote
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 14 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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On November 15, 1959, in the small town of Holcomb, Kansas, four members of the Clutter family were savagely murdered by blasts from a shotgun held a few inches from their faces. There was no apparent motive for the crime, and there were almost no clues.
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Still the Best
- By Lisa on 01-10-06
By: Truman Capote
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H. H. Holmes
- The True History of the White City Devil
- By: Adam Selzer
- Narrated by: David Bendena
- Length: 17 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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This is the first truly comprehensive book examining the life and career of the murderer who has become one of America's great supervillains. It reveals not only the true story but how the legend evolved, taking advantage of hundreds of primary sources that have never been examined before, including legal documents, letters, articles, and records that have been buried in archives for more than a century.
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The truth
- By Anna Fluellen on 09-08-17
By: Adam Selzer
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Empire of Deception
- The Incredible Story of a Master Swindler Who Seduced a City and Captivated the Nation
- By: Dean Jobb
- Narrated by: Peter Berkrot
- Length: 9 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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It was a time of unregulated madness. And nowhere was it madder than in Chicago at the dawn of the Roaring Twenties. Speakeasies thrived, gang war shootings announced Al Capone's rise to underworld domination, Chicago's corrupt political leaders fraternized with gangsters, and the frenzy of stock market gambling was rampant. Enter a slick, smooth-talking, charismatic lawyer named Leo Koretz, who enticed hundreds of people (who should have known better) to invest as much as $30 million.
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Incredible Tale!
- By electricblue201 on 10-11-15
By: Dean Jobb
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Killers of the Flower Moon
- The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI
- By: David Grann
- Narrated by: Will Patton, Ann Marie Lee, Danny Campbell
- Length: 9 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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In the 1920s, the richest people per capita in the world were members of the Osage Nation in Oklahoma. After oil was discovered beneath their land, the Osage rode in chauffeured automobiles, built mansions, and sent their children to study in Europe.
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An outstanding story, highly recommended
- By S. Blakely on 06-22-17
By: David Grann
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The Wager
- A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder
- By: David Grann
- Narrated by: Dion Graham, David Grann
- Length: 8 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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On January 28, 1742, a ramshackle vessel of patched-together wood and cloth washed up on the coast of Brazil. Inside were thirty emaciated men, barely alive, and they had an extraordinary tale to tell. They were survivors of His Majesty’s Ship the Wager, a British vessel that had left England in 1740 on a secret mission during an imperial war with Spain. While the Wager had been chasing a Spanish treasure-filled galleon known as “the prize of all the oceans,” it had wrecked on a desolate island off the coast of Patagonia.
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Gasping for Air
- By Jean Engle on 04-19-23
By: David Grann
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The Race Underground
- Boston, New York, and the Incredible Rivalry That Built America's First Subway
- By: Doug Most
- Narrated by: John H. Mayer
- Length: 15 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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In the late nineteenth century, as cities like Boston and New York grew larger, the streets became increasingly clogged with horse-drawn carts. When the great blizzard of 1888 brought New York City to a halt, a solution had to be found. Two brothers - Henry Melville Whitney of Boston and William Collins Whitney of New York City - pursued the dream of his city being the first American metropolis to have a subway and the great race was on.
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Informative Cobbled Telling of an Important Story
- By Lynn on 05-21-14
By: Doug Most
What listeners say about The Devil in the White City
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Kelly
- 06-18-14
two excellent stores read by a superb narrator
My daughter was assigned this book as part of her summer reading for her Honor's English class. I got to it first and spent two nights awake until dawn listening in wonder. I expected a murder mystery set in the World's Fair. It was so much more. Really there were two stories running concurrently. We did follow HH Holme and know what he was up to while living in Chicago. There was nothing gruesome -- Mr Larson writes about Holmes' machinations in a straightforward way. For me this mad it feel less sensational and I was glad for the writing style.
The other story interested me further. Following the preparation for, the buildup towards, and the financial consequences of the Fair was fascinating. It allows the reader to understand the culture of our home country at a time more than 100 years in our past. We meet world leaders, owners of the largest businesses, the father of a son who later be known as WALT DISNEY. But we also meet people that some might not recognize. FREDERICK LAW OLMSTEAD played a large role throughout the book. It was fascination t flesh out his life as I knew him only as the designer of Central Park in New York. Interspersed throughout the entire story are came performances. I particularly liked the the short moment shared between Pulham and Helen Keller.
i loved everything about the book -- with one caveat. Really more advice. Don't let your mind wander. You won't want to miss any of the hidden gems.
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79 people found this helpful
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Overall
- InADaze
- 05-14-04
ZONED OUT
Every writer deserves a fighting chance. This one almost lost the fight with me. If not for the reader, I would have not finished the book. I feel like I was at a party trying to get away from a long winded boring guest. WAY too much detail about the building of the fair and just when I was about to ZONE OUT, the writer saved the moment with some of what the killer was up to keeping me interested until the next 3 hours of the fair building again and so it went....
Interesting but I think could have been shorter. The effort that went into writing the book and the research alone is mind boggling. For that alone my hat off to writer.
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7 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Ken
- 05-13-04
Narrator detracts from great story
The book is great, and well worth the time. The story and the writing really take you to the time and place-- more credit to Mr. Larson for his style and scholarship. Fascinating book.
To me, the audiobook was a mixed bag, though. The narrator over-emotes every sentence, and until the drama really heated up, I considered dropping the book-- I kept getting distracted by Mr. Brick's inappropriate, superior, and generally irritating tone. That being said, he seems to be some people's cup of tea, and if you like (or just dont mind) him as a reader, the book will not disappoint.
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6 people found this helpful
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Overall
- M Shep
- 03-21-08
Highly Compelling
Magnificent book, beautifully read. Great story, chock full of fascinating characters. Sheds light on the zeitgeist of turn-of-the-century America in ways I hadn't expected. One of my top three favorite Audible listens.
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4 people found this helpful
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- R. Campbell
- 10-25-12
Murder, Thriller, Detective Story - And It's Real
My Dad recommended this book to me years ago and I've finally gotten around to it. This is a "stranger than fiction" account of the 1893 Chicago World's Fair which was known as the Colombian Exposition. It is also the story of all the culture and horror swirling around the fair in that era. The book covers everything from a serial killer who may be the archetypal psychopath, the assassination of the mayor of Chicago, the great architects of the age, to where Cracker Jack came from. The 1st Columbus Day was celebrated during the fair, the first Ferris Wheel created for the fair, and labor laws in America changed as a result of the fair. For range of coverage, this book is amazing. For level of intrigue and depth of detail, equally amazing. Well documented, well written and as always, I am amazed I didn't know this stuff. I would imagine that not being familiar with the fair would be as unimaginable to a person of that day as meeting someone who didn't know about the Moon landing would be in our age. This was big.
In college I took a course on American Architecture and how it reflects culture and the ideologies and world views of the people of the various times. Reading Larson's book, I recognized dozens of names and new building mentioned as well as events around the fair and the period, but the book was full of revelations and connections for me.
I would like to mention that stylistically, while parts of the book were amazing, I was put off by one device. Larson seemed to make glancing reference to multiple events which he seemed to assume the reader would know. I thought it was presumptuous and I felt silly for not knowing what he was talking about. However, in the last part of the book, he fills in all blanks and rather than being annoying, it became obvious that he was beginning with the end and had left off explicate detail so he could refer back at the end of the book. As the book closed, all was forgiven and what seemed awkward in the beginning became an elegant even clever closing.
Excellent book. I've read some really well written narrative history this year, so Larson had some hard acts to follow. Never the less, Larson held his own. I would highly recommend this book. A murder/thriller/detective story, an adventure in creation and the realization of an architectural dream, a chronicle of an event that changed the world and a portrait of America as she approached the 20th Century. I particularly liked the very last reflection on writing this book--Larson's comments on his sources and the joy of historical research. I was taken back to days in the Yale University Sterling Library Archives sorting through 18th century sermons and letter while doing my own thesis. Larson is a first class historian and story teller.
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Oliver
- 03-07-09
slow
The part about the fair was not very interesting. The part about HH Homles was much better. Overall not bad. If you enjoy non- fiction history, then you like the book. It just did not do it for me.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Anne in State College
- 08-27-04
Left me with curiosity...
I enjoyed the book immensely but am still wondering why Larson dwelled so often on arcana (i.e., reciting the full menus of so many architect dinners) while shortchanging the reader on descriptions of the fair exhibits (I mean besides the 'danse de vente' -- didn't he seem a little fixated on that?). For example, that manufacturers' building -- after he told us about it falling down 5 or 6 times, you'd think he'd reward us by telling us what they actually managed to exhibit in there. Or did I miss that -- sometimes my Otis garbles or skips a passage.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Patrick
- 03-24-09
I'm still thinking about it.
I finished it 1 week ago. And I still think about it. Now I want to go back to Chicago to see this part of history. Recommended by Leo Laporte
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Dayna Larson
- 04-02-10
Learned so much!
This story of how the Chicago World's Fair came to be was full of exciting history and atmosphere. I learned that much of what we have today is traceable back to that fair. The juxtaposed story of the serial killer is also increadibly interesting. The whole book is full of facts; names, dates and places, so I couldn't imagine wading through all this by actually reading it. Listening to it was a pleasure.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall
- swalk
- 08-20-04
Very Good
This is one of the rare audio books that kept my interest from beginning to end. I usually limit my listening to my long car trips, but with this one I even had to listen at home.
It was interesting historically while remaining a good and entertaining story.
I recommend this title.
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2 people found this helpful