Review: Devil in the White City by Eric Larson

Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America
By Erik Larson; published by Random House

There is something about the “Gilded Age” (the name coined by Mark Twain & Charles Dudley Warner for their novel of the period), that period ending the 19th century in America which totally fascinates me. It seems to do the same for many others, since there have been countless books, movies and television shows which take place in that period. The fact that it coincides with Britain’s Victorian Age is probably one reason for that interest, since the events of that era literally changed the political, social and cultural makeup of much the world.

The U.S. was rapidly changing in that period, with a great shift taking place as millions of native born Americans, as well as immigrants, began moving into the larger cities and making their livings by working for industries, rather than farming. It is also the era which saw a change in how the U.S. saw itself as a player in world affairs.

I think one of the most amazing things about the period, here in the U.S., was that life in the ‘civilized’ eastern portion of the nation was so vastly different from that of the still growing frontier west of the Mississippi. In fact, Larson makes note of that very thing in his section talking about “Buffalo” Bill Cody’s troop of ‘cowboys & Indians’ who were neighbors to the fair for all of its existence.

One way in which America could prove itself was to host the World’s Fair of 1893. The previous one held in Paris, including as it did the unveiling of Eiffel’s tower, was considered unsurpassable. Larson’s book takes a look at the social, political and economic pressures which were brought to bear on the men and women who set about to bring the Fair into being. He also introduces many of his readers, for most for the first time, to a most remarkable individual, who also had his own impact on hundreds of people. In his case, the effect was often deadly.

Larson’s book centers on the careers and fortunes of two very different men. One is Daniel Burnham, architect and overall planner of what was known as the Columbian Exposition. The second was named Dr. H.H. Holmes, although it became known only later, that this was only one name by which this gentleman went. It was in fact, not his name at all, but the one by which he became identified as the first American serial killer (although this term would not come into fashion until several generations after Holmes left us).

Unlike his better known British contemporary, Jack the Ripper, Holmes did not publicly flaunt his murders, but quietly went about his crimes while maintaining an air of respectability. Holmes was in fact, even after his conviction, the object of sympathy and respect. Called a ‘monster’ by the press of the day, many of those who had known Holmes personally still spoke of him highly.

It is not known exactly how many people, mostly women, Holmes killed in his ‘castle’ in Chicago. The newspapers of the period said as many as two hundred, although it was probably less then half that. Still dozens of men and women checked into Holmes’ hotel and never were seen or heard from again.

While Burnham and Holmes (born Herman Webster Mudgett) both were born hundreds of miles from Chicago; it was there they earned their fame. Burnham’s father operated a wholesale drug business, while Mudgett’s parents were farmers; from early in their lives they took very different courses. Burnham, rejected by both Harvard & Yale, yet became one of the most highly respected architects of the era. Holmes, a mediocre student at best, earned a degree in medicine and also took up the pharmaceutical trade, but on the retail level.

Larson, writer of the bestseller Isaac’s Storm, has done an incredible job of research, which brings both men and their contemporaries to life. His examination of the cultural and economic tides which effected the fair make it all the more remarkable that Burnham and his partners were able to pull it off. On the other hand, many of these same things helped Holmes do what he did so well also, by allowing him to go undetected until dozens of people had already met their fate at his hands. Four Stars.