Vintage The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America

This book is way more about the world's fair than it is about H.H. Holmes.It literally dedicates space to writing about the conditions of the soil that the fair was to be built on, and what other sites they looked at to find a site for the fair. Honestly, who cares. Even if you are hugely curious about the fair, most of it will send you to sleep.The stuff about H.H Holmes is interesting, but you're mostly reading about the architects and what they had for dinner. I have no idea how this book has positive reviews.

I bought this book to read about H.H. Holmes but unfortunately the vast majority of it is about building the World's Fair. It is well written and an interesting read but buy something else if you just want to read about H.H. Holmes.

Thankyou Amazon for recommending this book.I found it fascinating. Holmes' story is certainly worth telling, but it was the story of the World's Fair that was the more absorbing of the narratives.The details of committee meetings, labour disputes and even storm damage were deftly handled, and the characters brought vividly to life.I found Holmes' story was almost in the background, and I feel this made for a better book than it might have been.

As always with Larson the pleasure is in the detail, these little stories of history that hide behind the main tale... the building of the great Exhibition and Burnham's challenges come alive , and tbe birth of the Ferris Wheel or the success of Buffalo Bill as a showman are a real treat to the reader...as for HH Holmes, Larson has used what knowledge is available about the man and his sad endeavours without speculating further, or sensationaling his deeds. A fair story of the first serial killer understood as such in America and especially a good account of the detective who went out of his way to bring the truth about Holmes. One wish Larson had developed it further. Not as captivating as some of his other works but a good account of Chicago's life under the influence of these two very different men.

Errrrrrrrr, this is going against popular opinion, but . . . . . I really didn’t find this book that good. I know it’s a bestseller and according to every review you read about it, absolutely everyone who’s read it loves it, but it was honestly pretty boring and a fairly arduous read. It’s inaccurately titled ‘The Devil In The White City’ when any detail or story-telling related to H.H.Holmes actually occupies about 10% of the book with the remaining 90% focused on the Chicago World’s Fair and Daniel Burnham. This book should’ve been titled more appropriately to reflect the fact that it barely touches on H.H.Holmes and any parts that do deal with him are vague and lacking depth. A disappointing read to say the least and I cannot understand the hype around this book.