Devil in the White City

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The Devil in the White City by Eric Lawson In The Devil in the White City, readers are exposed to a mysterious, thrilling, and an astounding world at the same time. Author Eric Lawson introduces the setting in the city of Chicago, Illinois, during its highest, industrial peak in the late 1800’s. It is during this era that Chicago attracted two of the highlighted, historical figures—famous architect Daniel Hudson Burnham and young doctor Henry H. Holmes, who soon became America’s first and most feared serial killer. Chicago had been a competitive city not only in technological advances but in architectural attractions. Daniel Burnham had created some of America’s most famous structures, including the Flatiron Building in New York and Union Station in D.C.; his next task was to recreate a desolate Chicago to a revolutionized city of hope, by creating the famous Chicago World’s Fair in 1893 (also known as The World’s Columbian Exposition). This became a revelation for it attracted millions but also a devious and disturbing killing spree for Henry Holmes. It was during the 1890’s that Chicago had become America’s second populous city, due to the shift from an agricultural to an industrial society, drawing hundreds of thousands of foreign immigrants and rural dwellers to the city in search of work and a better lifestyle. Chicago wanted to prove to the world that the US was dominant in cultural, military and political force to the world by building the Chicago World’s Fair in response to the tall Eiffel Tower centered at the 1889 Paris World’s Fair. What better way to host a fair while celebrating the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’s discovery of America. Burnham was hired along with other architects to begin the building process, but before he could start, the first problem he faced was the location of the exposition, and the fact that it was in the

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