  The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson Vintage Books (Random House) 2003 With books like "Isaac's Storm", Erik Larson has become another of the writers like Sebastian Junger ("The Perfect Storm") or Jon Krakauer ("Into Thin Air") to refine the art of popular history. At its best, this genre has found the sublime in the stories that have existed beside us for decades.
With his latest book, "Devil in the White City", Larsen has truly managed to find a shining pearl. It has been twenty years since the lights fell dark at the World's Fair in New Orleans. For millions of Americans, the closest experience we have to a World's Fair is a family trip to Disney's Epcot Center, lampooned in "The Simpsons" (Homer: "Ohhhhhhh, its even boring to FLY over it. ") Since the 1851 Crystal Palace Exposition in London, however, World's Fairs were a part of American life for over 100 years. The first, held in New York in 1853, counted P.T. Barnum and muckraking journalist Horace Greeley among its creators. One of the most famous structures in the world, the Eiffel Tower in Paris, was commissioned for the International Exposition of 1889. In 1893, in a bid (yet, it should be noted, to be accomplished) to prove its bona fides to New York City, Chicago won the approval of the U.S. Congress to host the Columbian Exposition, a World's Fair to outdo all World's Fairs. Industrial Chicago at the turn of the last century is the setting for Larsen's "Devil in the White City", the suspenseful and masterful story of the herculean construction of the Columbian Exposition and the nefarious machinations of one Dr. H.H. Holmes. Familiar to most Chicagoans as the father of the street grid that makes our city so easy to navigate, Daniel Burnham is a central figure in Larsen's story. Along with partner John Root, believed the creative force behind the design of the 1893 World's Fair, Burnham became the designated czar of the world's fair, coordinating the design, arranging the financing, managing the politics (even then Chicago politics intruded) and recruiting the most talented and leading voices of American architecture into the project. Often criticized today as overly formalistic and rigid, Burnham displayed remarkable skills of persuasion and flexibility as he brought the immense talents of men like Frederick Law Olmstead, creator of New York's Central Park to bear on Chicago's World Fair.
To build the famed midway, now a famed part of the University of Chicago, Burnham turned to Sol Bloom, later a New York congressman and one of the fathers of the United Nations. Attractions from around the world, including Wild Bill's West Show, wowed the hundreds of thousands of visitors who flocked to Chicago. Interlaced with the story of the World's Fair is the story of one who flocked to Chicago, lured by the promise of wealth and opportunity in the then-rapidly developing industrial capital, Dr. H.H.
Holmes.
An enigmatic and mysterious figure, Holmes was a man of considerable charm and persuasion, who, unlike Burnham, used his powers to feed an unquenchable and venal thirst. As luck would have it for Holmes, the Columbian Exposition would provide a steady supply of young women, eager to escape their rigid former lives for a life of promise and freedom. In the hands of Dr. Holmes, it would be something none would find. As Larsen himself writes in his introduction, this is a story none would believe but for his careful research and documentation. Larsen paints a vibrant and decadent Chicago, a city gripped by its inferiority complex to New York City and eager to prove itself.
Chapter breaks are carefully chosen to build a suspenseful story that unfolds tragically. Larsen has mastered the art of storytelling with "Devil in the White City", a rich urban history that sheds light not only on the story of America's first serial killer, but also the tragic success of the Columbian Exposition, a testament to the pioneering can-do spirit characteristic of America. Highly recommended--excellent popular and urban history. 
