Essay On The Devil In The White City

Erik Larson studied Russian history, language and culture at the University of Pennsylvania where he graduated. He also got his masters in journalism from Columbia University. He has worked or wrote for Bucks County Courier Times, The Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine, The Atlantic, Harper’s and The New Yorker. The events of The Devil in The White City take place during 1893 at the Worlds Colombian Exposition in Chicago. I feel this is a good book and I will probably go back and re read it just to get a better feel for it, I just wish I didn’t wait till the last minute to start reading. I feel like Erik Larson wrote two books and tied them into one, yes they can be considered related due to being during the same time period and taking place in the same place but they never merge into one story.

John Root dies before construction can even begin so Burnham is left to build it on his own. Burnham recruits the help of some of the nation’s best architect to help design and build the buildings. Burnham and Root where in charge of the construction for The World Fair because they had experience in building large and first ever buildings. He and Root built the first ever skyscraper called the Montauk in 1881 also located in Chicago. They were also responsible for the biggest private building in America which an auditorium that was owned by Ferdinard W. Peck. Herman Webster Mudgett would later change his name to Dr. Henry H. Holmes. Holmes who was also a pharmacist works out of his own pharmacy. He later builds The World’s Fair Hotel from hell which is a front to feed his sick appetite across the street from his pharmacy and down the street from Chicago’s World Fair. He hires on multiple work crews to build his hotel so that no one could find out what his real intentions