It's been a while since I've written a review, as my wife had an emergency back surgery and an extended stay in the hospital that has kept me busy doing other things than writing. Erik Larson, by Larson discusses early in the book about how Holmes laid the groundwork for numerous cases of insurance fraud, having people obtain life insurance policies and name him (sometimes using more pseudonyms) as the sole beneficiary. Review by Robert McCool Welcome to the White City - Chicago in 1890-1893. tells the stories of Daniel H. Burnham, chief planner and architect of exposition, and Dr. Henry Howard Holmes, whose rambling World’s Fair Hotel, just a short streetcar ride away, housed windowless rooms, a gas chamber, secret chutes, and a basement crematory. ‧ Sentences wandered through the report like morning glory through the pickets of a fence" he might as well be describing himself. The Devil in The White City is a fascinating study of the genius of two men and how they applied that genius. The year is 1890 and Chicago is vying to win the right to host the World’s Fair. We’re glad you found a book that interests you. Larson does an amazing job juxtaposing the creation and construction of the beautiful but temporary Columbian Exposition of 1893 with the destructive force of America's first (known) serial killer H.H. ERIK LARSON is the author of four national bestsellers: In the Garden of Beasts, Thunderstruck, The Devil in the White City, and Isaac's Storm, which have collectively sold more than 5.5 million copies.His magazine stories have appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, Harper's and other publications and his books have been published in fourteen countries. Holmes was also known to use his eyes of the deepest blue to lock onto a woman and decide how he might have her as his own. The Columbian Exposition was a very big deal. influencers in the know since 1933. GENERAL CURRENT EVENTS & SOCIAL ISSUES | RELEASE DATE: Feb. 1, 2003. With a limited timetable, everything had to move at lightning speed, something that Burnham would soon realise turned out to be a snail’s pace. GENERAL HISTORY | The book is based on fact, but it reads like the best of novels, going back and forth between the team racing to put together the most important peacetime event in U.S. history, and a psychopathic murderer who is stalking the city at the same time, preying on young women with a cold efficiency that makes Jack the Ripper look like (excuse t. Erik Larson is an amazing historical writer -- one of those rare breed who can bring the past to life and make it seem immediate, fresh, intimate and amazing. Holmes. 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