The Devil in the White City

The Devil in the White City

Erik Larson 's The Devil in the White City is about the creation and execution of the 1893 World 's Fair , the Columbian Exposition and the actions of America 's first known serial killer . A powerful portrait of America in the 1890s , the book represents the best and worst of the Gilded Age . The book focuses on two men , Daniel Burnham , the mastermind behind the Fair , and H .H . Holmes , America 's first known serial killer Both men work tirelessly to achieve their goals and both prove

to be quite successful Burnham gets his grand affair and Holmes manages to kill a number of people . Overall , The Devil in the White City is about the importance of being important

Throughout the book , Daniel Burnham works very hard to get the World 's Fair in Chicago and succeed . The beginning of the book starts at the end , almost twenty years after the fair , and Larson lets the reader know how tired the older Burnham is as he tries to relax on a ship voyage From here we go backwards with Burnham and find out what why he is so exhausted . Through the book we learn the history of Chicago and what it meant to Burnham and his cohorts to be the best . Completely ignoring the outstanding plight of Chicago (the stench from the infamous stockyards is mentioned often ) and obsessed with the success of the World 's Fair in Paris , specifically the amazement of the...